Welcome to our collection of quotes by Tulsi Gabbard. We hope you enjoy pondering them and please share widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard (born April 12, 1981) is a former American politician and United States Army Reserve officer who served as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Elected in 2012, she was the first Hindu member of Congress and also the first Samoan-American voting member of Congress. In early February 2019 she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election.
In 2002, Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives at the age of 21. Gabbard served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard while deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was stationed in Kuwait from 2008 to 2009 as an Army Military Police platoon leader. She was a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016, when she resigned to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
Gabbard supports a two-tier universal health care plan that she calls "Single Payer Plus". She supports strengthening Roe v. Wade by codifying it into federal law, and believes that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare", although she has said it is not a choice she would personally make. She co-sponsored the Family Act for paid family and medical leave and endorsed universal basic income. She opposes military interventionism, although she has called herself a "hawk" on terrorism. Her decision to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her skeptical approach to two claims that he had used chemical weapons were controversial.
On March 19, 2020, Gabbard dropped out of the 2020 presidential race and endorsed Joe Biden. She had already withdrawn from her U.S. House re-election race during her presidential campaign and was succeeded by Kai Kahele on January 3, 2021.
As progressives, we care about the well-being of others. We are soft-hearted and have aloha, respect, compassion for others, and we don't like to see anyone suffering.
To maintain order after Assad's fall would require at least 500,000 troops in a never-ending occupation.
I believe we can make progress on bringing true equality and fairness back to our government if we continue to work together and make our voices heard.
We need to stop judging individuals based on their race, profession, gender, religion, or anything other than their own individual behavior and character.
In my past, I said and believed things that were wrong and -- worse -- hurtful to the LGBTQ+ community and their loved ones.
I am deeply honored and humbled to represent the people of Hawai'i and will continue to do my best to bring the spirit of aloha to our nation's capital.
We must remember that this nation was founded by people fleeing religious persecution, risking everything to find a place to be free to worship as they chose or not to worship at all.
The best of our nation is exemplified by our nation's veterans who embody what it means to put service above self. Who have sacrificed their own personal interests out of a greater love for our people and our country.
We have to understand that in this country, it's unacceptable for anyone to be sick and in need of care and not able to get that care simply because they don't have enough money.
Disadvantaged communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change.
When I deployed to Iraq with my fellow soldiers, putting our lives on the line for our country, no one in the media questioned our patriotism because of our religion.
If we want to change this culture of hate and bigotry, every one of us must stand up and speak with one voice to condemn it, because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.
What I'm saying is it is our responsibility to exercise due diligence, to ask the tough questions, to get the evidence before we make those very costly decisions about how and when and where our military is used.
Finding common ground means reaching out with respect and aloha -- despite the issues that divide us, despite the hurt, despite the fear -- and recognize what unites us as human beings.
My siblings and I grew up studying from both the Bhagavad-Gita and the Bible, going to Mass, and then coming home to a yoga kirtan.
One reason I'm grateful to call Hawai'i home is that the people of these islands embrace diversity and celebrate the colorful fabric of race, ethnicity, and religion that make up our people, place, and culture.
Unfortunately, sometimes our leaders, for their own political purposes, want us to think in terms of categories and groupings. Our group vs. this group vs. another group. This must end.
The American people are sick of our failed regime change wars.
I feel it is my duty to take every single opportunity I get to advocate for peace, no matter the circumstances of those meetings.
I am proud to be the first Hindu American to have been elected to Congress and now the first Hindu American to run for president.
A military mindset is objectively analyzing a planned course of action and anticipating the likely consequences before you take that action.
Our nation was founded on the principle that our government should be of the people, by the people, and for the people -- where all people are treated equally, and with respect, in these United States of America.
Every single American deserves to be treated equally by their fellow Americans and under the law.
Nothing is more important to me, and nothing was more important to our founding fathers, than freedom of religion.
It's when we care for each other -- choosing inclusion and love over division and hatred -- that this great country is at its greatest.
As a soldier, I stand ready to serve and protect and defend this country. And as a soldier, I know the cost of war. And as president and commander-in-chief, I will end these regime-change wars.
The cost of war impacts all of us -- both in the human cost and the cost that's being felt frankly in places like Flint, Michigan, where families and children are devastated and destroyed by completely failed infrastructure because of lack of investment.
I've seen firsthand the high human cost of war.
When I started my campaign for Congress, I was one who people said, 'Tulsi, you have a bright future, but there's no way you can win.
Longer Version:
When I started my campaign for Congress, I was one who people said, 'Tulsi, you have a bright future, but there's no way you can win.'
No member of any 'grouping' should be judged by the activity of some other individual in that same grouping.
I am a very firm believer in the Aloha spirit -- respect and love for everyone, irrespective of their religion, race, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
There is no denying that the interventionist wars in Iraq and Libya that were propagated as necessary to relieve human suffering actually increased human suffering in those countries -- many times over.
As was true in Iraq and Libya, the United States has no credible government or leader able to bring order, security, and freedom to the people of Syria if Assad is overthrown.
The cause of peace is too great for us to allow political disagreements or partisanship to stand in our way.
In short, I will never allow partisanship to undermine our national security when the lives of countless people lay in the balance. If that earns me enemies in Washington or at the State Department, then so be it.
People in the Middle East, people everywhere, want peace. But unfortunately too many fail to recognize that that lasting peace can only be found with pluralistic, secular government.
Sadly, the system in this country is rigged in favor of wealthy elites who have purchased tremendous influence in our government.
The divisiveness that threatens the fabric of our nation -- whether due to race, religion, political ideology, gender, sexual orientation, or other -- must end.
I was raised in Hawaii in what I call a 'faith-inclusive' family. I never felt I had to choose loyalty to the New Testament over the Bhagavad Gita. It really wasn't until my late teens that I became aware of the ugly concept of sectarianism.
While in the Middle East, I saw how quickly religious sectarianism and bigotry can lead to the disintegration of a country -- how leaders manipulate people to fear others who are different, who look different, or who have different beliefs.
If we want to preserve the foundation of our democracy, it's vital that we find common ground that allows us to work for the greater good of this nation. This does not mean giving up our values. This does not mean swallowing a bitter compromise.
We need to end our country's counterproductive regime change war policies that have undermined our national security, destroyed so many countries, and taken so many lives. We must instead focus on investing in and rebuilding our communities right here at home.
We have to put an end to the culture of selfishness and corruption that allows greedy Wall Street banks and executives to rip off working people without any consequences.
My mom was a practicing Hindu, and my dad was a Catholic who practiced yoga meditation and karma yoga. My earliest memories are of the bright colors, beautiful sounds, and fragrant aromas of both Christian and Hindu celebrations.
I am a military police officer and I have served on two deployments my first was to Iraq, in a medical unit, and my second deployment was to Kuwait, as a military police platoon leader.
Every soldier knows this simple fact: If you don't know your enemy, you will not be able to defeat him.
Let's care for the land and water, heal our cherished planet, and promote wellness for all of her people. Water is life. Let's protect the natural resources that our lives depend upon.
Growing up here in Hawaii, I loved swimming, surfing, and having fun in this paradise we are lucky to call home. But I gradually realized that I was actually happiest when I was doing things for other people, doing things to protect our water, oceans, and beaches.
I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita because its teachings have inspired me to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country.
Hawaii is a special place because we have a very diverse population there, who are very respectful and tolerant of those who have differing opinions and different views.
I am a military police officer and I have served on two deployments; my first was to Iraq, in a medical unit, and my second deployment was to Kuwait, as a military police platoon leader.
As a combat veteran, I know the cost of war.
Looking at someone in a deployed setting, it's not in their best interest to get pregnant overseas, but if it happens, it happens.
I am privileged to be able to work for the people of Hawaii in whatever capacity.
Hopefully the presence in Congress of an American who happens to be Hindu will increase America's understanding of India as well as India's understanding of America.
I volunteered to deploy to Iraq. I was one of the few soldiers who were not on the mandatory deployment roster -- close to 3,000 Hawaii soldiers were.
These days, it's often women in uniform -- moms, wives, even grandmothers -- who deploy and leave their families behind.
In the military, I learned that 'leadership' means raising your hand and volunteering for the tough, important assignments.
I am a practicing Hindu and have made no secrets about it.
We cannot afford to walk down that dangerous path of government overstepping its boundaries into the most personal parts of our lives.