Farewell To Congress
Madam Speaker, I rise today to share my gratitude for this remarkable opportunity to serve my community. As I prepare to retire from Congress, I have been reflecting on what brought me here. Despite growing up just outside of D.C., I was…
Madam Speaker, I rise today to share my gratitude for this remarkable opportunity to serve my community. As I prepare to retire from Congress, I have been reflecting on what brought me here.
Despite growing up just outside of D.C., I was very much not one of those people who envisioned themselves in elected office since grade school, but I did want to help people. That is why I chose to be a lawyer.
I was very fulfilled doing that work, especially the opportunities to serve as a prosecutor, and later, a guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children and a substitute judge.
Then, one day in late 2008, I went just around the corner from my law office to Ida Lee Park in Leesburg to hear a skinny guy with a funny name talk about his message of hope and change and: ``Yes, We Can.''
Hearing then-Senator Obama speak was the first time that I stopped thinking that can't be me and started thinking, yes, I can. I believed him when he
said that we could come together around what unites us as Americans and do the hard work of making life better for our neighbors.
So my political career began. In 2014, I won a State senate special election and went to Richmond as a bright-eyed, new legislator at a time when the legislature still didn't have a whole lot of people like me there. I was one of just a few women with school-aged kids, and I served in the minority.
I learned quickly that my best ideas for policy come from my constituents. I heard a woman's tragic story of losing her brother to an overdose and took action to make Narcan more accessible.
I worked with a mom to help pass a law that gave greater benefits to single parents of kids with disabilities. Another constituent came to me about her horrific sexual assault story, so I wrote a law empowering victims of revenge porn to file lawsuits and recover damages from their perpetrators.
Then, in 2016, another unlikely candidate for President led me to make a career change I never could have imagined. Once again, though, it was the hope that I could help people that led me to run for Congress.
I wanted to stand up for communities who did not feel represented. I stood with our Muslim neighbors at Dulles Airport to protest the Muslim ban. I became the first Member of Congress to hang a transgender rights flag outside of my office.
As the child of two parents who had worked for the Federal Government, I became a vocal advocate for the integrity of our civil service.
Most of all, I ran for Congress because of my kids. I went to Washington with the goal of making sure the stories of Virginia's families were heard, and that their Representative was fighting for their needs.
I am proud of what I was able to do, like working on legislation to invest in childhood cancer research in honor of a young constituent, Gabriella Miller, and her courageous battle and advocacy; supporting survivors of domestic violence and abuse; expanding mental health resources for Capitol Police in the wake of January 6; and standing up for human rights of Uyghurs in China.
It has been quite the unprecedented 6 years in Congress: Facing the longest government shutdown in history; not one, but two impeachments; a pandemic; an insurrection; and in the midst of it all, I began facing the greatest challenge of them all, my battle with PSP.
One of the first questions I asked my doctor after my diagnosis was if I could still run for reelection. His response was: Why would you want to? It was a very serious and sobering moment, but in truth, I had plenty of answers for him.
Above all, I did and still very much do believe in the possibility to bring hope and make change in the lives of those we serve here. As I battled this disease, which robbed me of my ability to move and speak, I wanted to make the most of my platform to bring some good out of this terrible situation.
As I mentioned, my best ideas for legislation often come from personal stories constituents share with me. Now, it was my own struggle that I hoped to help turn into meaningful change in policy.
One of my proudest moments in Congress has been successfully helping lead the bipartisan National Plan to End Parkinson's Act to become law, the most consequential legislation ever passed to tackle Parkinson's and related conditions like my PSP. It will go a long way toward improving and saving lives.
This has been a journey, which has been so challenging, yet one which I am proud to have stood strong in and done my part to give hope and comfort to others facing similar battles.
Our disabilities and our health struggles do not define who we are, and I feel more strongly than ever that it is so important to share that truth with the world. This journey could not have been possible without so many people who share my belief that I could make a positive change and conviction that there is real good to be done through public service.
I thank my family, Team Wexton, and all of the people of Virginia-10. I hope I have made you proud. As I head into my final days in Congress, I am choosing once again to have hope.
People didn't lose hope in me after my diagnosis. I have real hope that one day we will find a cure for PSP. I see reasons for hope every day, especially young people, women and girls, and others who don't traditionally have a seat at the tables of power who are discovering and believing in the power of public service, just like I did all those years ago at Ida Lee Park.
I hope that the most impactful legacy I can leave is in the power of perseverance and persistence, in the belief that change is possible through public service, and that change is coming if we are willing to work for it.