“Too often, our most vulnerable students – English-language learners, immigrants, poor kids, teenage parents, students with behavioral problems and learning disabilities – fall through the cracks.”
― Jared Polis
“There are a lot of children in our country that, because of their neighborhood or socio-economic status, do not have the opportunity to attend a good school that will prepare them for life’s challenges.”
― Jared Polis
“Democratic, Republican members of Congress get along fine. But what you have is this institutional Hatfield and McCoy sentiment coming from our constituents, where the base of both sides doesn’t want people to get along. But the majority of Americans, I feel, the majority, they are in the middle. They actually do want both sides to get together.”
― Jared Polis
“The foundation of a strong economy and job creation begins with providing every child in America with the best possible education, including students with disabilities.”
― Jared Polis
“Throughout history, we have only moved forward when society has distinguished between traditional values and valueless traditions.”
― Jared Polis
“Our students are the best investment we can make for our country and our future economic prosperity. It’s in our best interest to ensure they’re receiving the best education possible and maximizing their potential.”
― Jared Polis
“What I care most about is representing my constituents. If that ruffles a few feathers along the way, so be it.”
― Jared Polis
“For me, blogging is just like talking.”
― Jared Polis
“Gay marriage won’t be more of an issue 25 years from now than interracial marriage is today.”
― Jared Polis
“Members of Congress wear two hats: one as Washington legislator, the other as listener and community leader back home.”
― Jared Polis
“Someone who is wrongfully accused needs to do their best to put it behind them and move on.”
― Jared Polis
“Members of the LGBT community should feel welcome and know their rights are protected regardless of what state they reside in.”
― Jared Polis
“My district is centered around the progressive college town of Boulder, Colorado, and the high-tech U.S. 36 corridor. It goes from the well-established suburbs of northwest Denver in Adams County to the beautiful mountain towns of Vail and Breckenridge and the majestic Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains.”
― Jared Polis
“The most important thing to keep in mind in being effective is focus.”
― Jared Polis
“In order to create real, long-lasting reform, we must create a pathway to legal status for the millions of undocumented immigrants who have made lives for themselves and their families in the United States.”
― Jared Polis
“Improving our nation’s education system has long been the cornerstone of my policy agenda.”
― Jared Polis
“Without net neutrality protections, the Internet would no longer be a free and open ecosystem for innovation.”
― Jared Polis
“I am committed to leveling the playing field and expanding opportunity to all.”
― Jared Polis
“It’s critical to show that we can meet our commitment to students with disabilities without raising taxes and without increasing the deficit. In the past, there’s been strong support for full funding and I’m still hearing that from many of my colleagues.”
― Jared Polis
“Congress seems to thrive on breaking promises and passing unfunded mandates down to local government. It’s really just a matter of priorities.”
― Jared Polis
“I oppose piracy and want to see intellectual property protected because that is what fosters and rewards innovation. But SOPA won’t accomplish a meaningful reduction in piracy and causes massive collateral damage to the Internet ecosystem.”
― Jared Polis
“Many rogue sites exist to make a profit and others are enormously expensive to maintain. If they don’t have the resources to continue stealing intellectual property, they’ll wither away.”
― Jared Polis
“When the money dries up, the sites die off. That’s the way to go after piracy.”
― Jared Polis
“It’s easier to stop bad things than to pass good things.”
― Jared Polis
“As long as you have money to live then it’s not a terribly important thing. If you don’t have enough to live, then it’s very important thing.”
― Jared Polis
“Lady Gaga is one of the most amazingly talented musicians to bring her gifts to humanity in a long time.”
― Jared Polis
“I’m more of the sneaker-wearing, computer geek type.”
― Jared Polis
“I’m too busy thinking what I’m going to say next to remember what I’ve said, but my staff tells me I’m sometimes funny. Not always on purpose, though.”
― Jared Polis
“We are a diverse country, but we are one country. And we are at our best when we come together as Americans, not despite our differences, but in celebration of them.”
― Jared Polis
“From the newest arrivals to our Native American brothers and sisters, we are one America.”
― Jared Polis
“Agribusinesses should never dictate the quality of school meals.”
― Jared Polis
“But parents and schools have their priorities; making sure our kids eat right because research shows a clear connection between nutrition and student performance in school.”
― Jared Polis
“Big food companies have their priorities, which include selling cheap, unhealthy foods at high profits.”
― Jared Polis
“Pizza certainly has its place in school meals, but equating it with broccoli, carrots and celery seriously undermines this nation’s efforts to support children’s health and their ability to learn because of better school nutrition.”
― Jared Polis
“If my son had a baseless accusation made against him at a university, and it was making his life there miserable, I would suggest he transfer or take courses online.”
― Jared Polis
“It can be a living hell to go through endless campus investigations. I’ve seen this go down, and there really is no winning once the accusation is made, even if the process provides formal vindication.”
― Jared Polis
“I have a horrible sense of direction.”
― Jared Polis
“I don’t particularly care what people think of me as long as I know what I’m doing is right.”
― Jared Polis
“In general, I think it’s an advantage politically to keep people guessing.”
― Jared Polis
“I can be happy in the private sector, the non-profit sector, or the public sector.”
― Jared Polis
“You have 435 people in the United States House of Representatives trying to get along.”
― Jared Polis
“I always try to follow my moral compass.”
― Jared Polis
“With the policymaking process, you have an idea, and you try to sell other stakeholders on the idea. That’s not much different than in business, where you’re trying to find capital to make your idea a reality.”
― Jared Polis
“I want to make a difference.”
― Jared Polis
“I am from Colorado. I know Colorado inside and out.”
― Jared Polis
“Lawmakers who support CISA will tell you the bill includes some privacy protections. They’re right. But these ‘protections’ are superficial and include broad loopholes that are so far-reaching as to render the protections meaningless.”
― Jared Polis
“Too many public and private entities simply don’t take advantage of tools already at their disposal to protect themselves from hackers. No amount of information sharing will help solve that problem.”
― Jared Polis
“The federal government has an exceptionally poor record of behaving responsibly with Americans’ personal information when entrusted with it.”
― Jared Polis
“The NSA has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times a year since Congress gave it broad new powers in 2008.”
― Jared Polis
“It’s insulting when somebody who is not a member of our community feels like they have a great understanding of what it’s like to grow up gay in this country.”
― Jared Polis
“I try to treat my orientation the same way I would if I was straight, which is to talk about it when it’s relevant.”
― Jared Polis
“Senators, representatives too often, we hear from our base, don’t talk to the other side, don’t with work with them.”
― Jared Polis
“I am a Democrat. But first and foremost, I am a Coloradan and an American who wants government to function and solve the challenges we face as a country, then make way for people to pursue their dreams without interference.”
― Jared Polis
“Before running for Congress, I was an innovator and entrepreneur who founded several high-tech businesses that created hundreds of jobs and schools that found ways to serve those children that traditional schools couldn’t.”
― Jared Polis
“I have taken my outside-the-box, innovative, and sometimes unorthodox approach to Congress.”
― Jared Polis
“We have to find a way that every Coloradan can participate in our economic growth and feel that all the changes that are occurring are working to their benefit rather than their detriment.”
― Jared Polis
“The need for a national Employment Non-Discrimination Act a critical part of the LGBT community’s struggle for equality.”
― Jared Polis
“No American should have to live in constant fear that their employer can fire them just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
― Jared Polis
“Having to censor yourself – whether it’s lying at the water cooler about how you spent your weekend, scrubbing your Facebook page of any revealing facts, or pretending to be with someone you aren’t – is the antithesis of our foundation as a nation based on freedom of expression and association.”
― Jared Polis
“That’s why I created the New America School – to fill the cracks in our public education system.”
― Jared Polis
“Only Congress can treat the gaping wound that is our broken immigration system.”
― Jared Polis
“My constituents want me to be outspoken – it’s part of the reason they elected me – and the inevitable side effect of being outspoken is that, occasionally, you put your foot in your mouth.”
― Jared Polis
“I remember well my first 300 baud modem, which dialed up and scrolled text at an agonizingly slow speed.”
― Jared Polis
“While still in college, I started my first Internet company – American Information Systems – a dial-up Internet provider in the Internet’s formative years.”
― Jared Polis
“My constituents include CU Buffs, ski bums, techies, artists, suburban soccer moms, and proud, hard-working Colorado families.”
― Jared Polis
“I’ve started several small businesses myself and know that it is tough out there for the little guy in the global economy. I came to the conclusion that, oftentimes, the best thing the government can do for small business is to stay out of the way.”
― Jared Polis
“To have hundreds of people from every political and demographic group you can imagine coming out day after day to take part in the national health care debate is fantastic.”
― Jared Polis
“In my opinion, real reform, which lowers costs and ensures all Americans get the quality, affordable health care that they deserve, cannot be accomplished without a robust public option.”
― Jared Polis
“Some people trust an insurance company over the government, while others trust the government over insurance companies.”
― Jared Polis
“I support offering the public option to members of Congress, and as soon as I’m given the chance, I intend to go on it.”
― Jared Polis
“Businesses have no place being ‘too big to fail.’”
― Jared Polis
“If our country is to advance, let it be upon the legs of lessons well-learned.”
― Jared Polis
“We can no more condone the wastefulness of self-serving company executives than we can the sacrifice of the lives of our citizens in a senseless war.”
― Jared Polis
“When I first arrived, I likened Congress to being back in school again as a freshman. Well, just like school, we have an ‘August recess,’ but don’t let the name fool you – it’s not even close to a vacation.”
― Jared Polis
“My favorite part of the experience of serving in Congress is knowing that my time and effort are spent for the greater good and for the betterment of our nation.”
― Jared Polis
“Humans and nations are imperfect, and through our collective efforts, we hope to improve our nation and bring hope and opportunity to millions who lack it.”
― Jared Polis
“If becoming a member of Congress is like going to college, then crafting legislation is our homework.”
― Jared Polis
“Co-sponsoring a bill is fairly easy, like a group project which you work on with others.”
― Jared Polis
“The House of Representatives provides a special, nonpartisan staff of lawyers, called Legislative Counsel, who are experts in various areas of the law.”
― Jared Polis
“Enterprise zones have succeeded in attracting needed capital to our urban poverty centers. Businesses and investors that wouldn’t otherwise give these blighted areas a second glance react to the incentives and invest.”
― Jared Polis
“Negotiating deals among members of Congress is an exercise in wearing masks, scaring up votes, and, oftentimes, bluffing.”
― Jared Polis
“The role of the speaker of the House is to deliver enough votes by understanding and accommodating the individual bottom lines of enough members to pass the bill.”
― Jared Polis
“I believe that in order to sustain a governing majority, the Democratic Party has got to learn that it can govern without raising taxes.”
― Jared Polis
“We need to prove to American voters, particularly independent voters who gave us this opportunity to lead, that this is not your grandfather’s tax-and-spend Democratic Party.”
― Jared Polis
“Technology improves our lives in so many ways – from our toasters, ovens, and refrigerators at home to our computers, fax machines, and BlackBerrys at work. Technology makes once-burdensome tasks easy and fun.”
― Jared Polis
“When I was first elected to the Colorado State Board of Education in 2000, we had to carry a big binder filled with hundreds of pages to every meeting. By 2004, the State Board had gone paperless. We even persuaded the less-tech-savvy members to use laptops to pull up their information during meetings.”
― Jared Polis
“From my own perspective, I value productivity more than tradition, but the customs of the House evolve slowly.”
― Jared Polis
“Creating a sustainable, economic, social, and ecological environment that provides everyone the opportunity to succeed is my mission in Congress.”
― Jared Polis
“One of my heroes growing up was Jackie Robinson. My mom, an ardent baseball fan from whom I got my love of the game, had an old baseball card of his from the 1950s and told us his amazing story of courage in integrating baseball.”
― Jared Polis
“The life of a congressional spouse is harder than the life of the member. They do all the work and get none of the recognition.”
― Jared Polis
“Churches should be able to decide what kinds of unions are sanctified by their denomination, but not what kinds of unions are accepted in the civil arena.”
― Jared Polis
“No one should be denied the opportunity to choose his or her spouse. It is a basic human right and deeply personal decision.”
― Jared Polis
“The so-called Defense of Marriage Act is a valueless tradition that, like laws against interracial marriage that were finally overturned by the Supreme Court in 1967, undermines the spirit of love and commitment that couples share and sends the wrong message to society.”
― Jared Polis
“It is essential for our national security to know who resides within our borders.”
― Jared Polis
“Trying to enforce our out-of-touch laws is as foolish and impossible as trying to enforce a law requiring that water flow uphill.”
― Jared Polis
“We can pass practical, comprehensive immigration reform.”
― Jared Polis
“While most of my public service work centers on improving our schools and fixing our broken immigration system, I also strongly stand for personal freedom.”
― Jared Polis
“Far too many of our elected officials are chained to an ideology that is rooted in the past. They are keepers of normalcy who embrace things as they’ve always been.”
― Jared Polis
“In the business world, if you’re not looking ahead, you’re missing something.”
― Jared Polis
“We need innovation and creativity.”
― Jared Polis
“Patience, they say, is a virtue. Yet in times of emergency, the government needs to be able to make snap decisions and take bold, decisive action to protect the American people.”
― Jared Polis
“The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – or stimulus bill, as it is often called – is a perfect example in which dire circumstances necessitate immediate action. But with such large amounts of taxpayer money at stake, a hastily developed, under-thought-out plan could have been disastrous.”
― Jared Polis
“Sometimes you hear that many politicians vote for a bill in various forms before they vote against it, or vice versa. The conflict, negotiation, and eventual compromise involved in this process form the essence of the democratic process.”
― Jared Polis
“We cannot afford a dead stop on all of the progress we have made under President Obama in saving our planet from the devastating consequences of climate change.”
― Jared Polis
“In the absence of federal leadership, Coloradans should take our rightful role as leaders seriously and work with other states and countries to reduce carbon emissions.”
― Jared Polis
“There is a great deal of innovation occurring in Colorado, with some of the most brilliant minds and creative startup companies in the world formulating climate-change solutions right in our backyard.”
― Jared Polis
“Coloradans of all walks of life value the environment.”
― Jared Polis
“To be effective in Congress, you must focus. With so many issues and debates occurring at any given time, it is easy to spread yourself too thin and lose sight of your goal.”
― Jared Polis
“One of my main legislative efforts in education is to help expand and replicate successful charter schools. Charter schools are public schools with site-based governance.”
― Jared Polis
“Americans’ information independence is under attack, whether it’s the repeal of net neutrality or the repeal of broadband privacy protections.”
― Jared Polis
“The Federal Communications Commission needs to listen and serve the American people, not special interests.”
― Jared Polis
“A free and open Internet is essential to our democracy, economy, and modern way of life.”
― Jared Polis
“We want a Colorado that works for everybody.”
― Jared Polis
“Colorado is a trade-dependent state.”
― Jared Polis
“I wouldn’t ask other people to invest in my race if I wasn’t willing to invest in it myself.”
― Jared Polis
“My parents were active in the anti-war movement in the 1960s, so I grew up with a tradition of civic activism around our dinner table and going to different marches for different causes.”
― Jared Polis
“I derive a lot of the values that I try to bring into the public sphere from my private faith.”
― Jared Polis
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