“Congressman Young’s comments were deeply hurtful, offensive and inappropriate for anyone to utter, let alone a Member of the United States Congress.  Congressman Young should fully apologize for deeply offensive comments that were not appropriate in his youth or now.”

“There is no question that we face a continuing need to remove the obstacles that block too many Americans from the polls.  Under the leadership of Congressmen John Lewis, Jim Clyburn, George Miller and John Larson, we’ve proposed election reforms to strengthen enforcement of voting laws, provide for same day and modernization of voting registration, require early voting and other resources to prevent long voting lines and reduce the problems that voters everywhere are facing.”

“The complete cleanup of Hunters Point is long past due.  Bayview residents have waited nearly 40 years for the Navy to fulfill its commitments while experiencing the highest rates of asthma and breast and cervical cancer in San Francisco.”

“The – I – on the basis of what I heard, the questions of the justices, the response of the participants, I’m very optimistic that DOMA will be struck down.  It doesn’t seem to have a rational basis, which is one of the criteria, a rational basis, a justification for being and secondly, probably, I should say first, full protection of all people in our country.  So equal protection has been a principle that our country was founded on, that our Constitution was written on, and I think on the basis of those two – the debate was going back and forth – ‘is it about equal protection?’  ‘Is it about rational basis?’  I think on either score, it – the arguments, the debates seem to favor striking down DOMA, which is very important.”

“The DOMA challenge involves the heartbreaking case of Edie Windsor, who was required by the federal government to pay hundreds of thousands in taxes after her wife, Thea, passed way.  Regardless of the fact that Edie and Thea were married and together for over 40 years, the federal government discriminated against Edie.  House Republicans intervened in this case in their efforts to preserve injustice and defend discrimination, and impose an unjust tax liability on an American family.”