Today, Congressman Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley) released the following statement after being elected to the new Democratic Caucus Leadership position created for Members of Congress who have served five terms or less.
“I am honored to have been elected by my colleagues to this new position on the House Democratic Leadership team. I thank my fellow contenders for the job for their devotion and perseverance to Democratic American values. Debate and good competition makes every one of us stronger, and builds our Caucus.
“As I said to my colleagues last night, I believe with all my heart that no matter our divisions, we are all Democrats. We must stick together and support each other, working together to make a difference in the things that really matter to Americans.
“All of us share the same core values. We want freedom to be ourselves, and the opportunity to live in peace and feed our families with an honest day’s work. From the San Fernando Valley, across the districts of my Democratic and Republican colleagues, we all have hopes and principles that have nothing to do with our party affiliation.
“Leadership must be inclusive, accountable and accessible. What I promised my colleagues last night, and what I promise Americans, is that I will constantly make sure we’re helping one another, working together to save lives and make those lives better.
“We are facing some serious threats ahead, many of them still unknown. Our communities fear the uncertainty of the future. We must unite to give our communities confidence that we will fight for them and for the country we know and love, a country that allowed me, a child of a mother and father with a first and second education, to sit at the Democratic Leadership table. We are ready to get to work.”