On this President’s Day, I‘m reflecting on the promise of our nation’s commitment to freedom and opportunity for all–something that’s personal to my family. A few weeks ago, 9News ran a story on my family’s journey to the United States–and my family’s experience of surviving the Holocaust. If you missed it, here it is.
My family’s story of survival and coming to the United States makes me especially grateful for our Nation’s commitment to freedom and inclusion. President George Washington captured our nation’s commitment to inclusivity in writing to a Rhode Island synagogue: “For happily the Government of the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.”
Today, we also celebrate the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, whose powerful words at Gettysburg on our commitment to democracy remain an inspiration to this day: “. . . this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The words of Washington and Lincoln represent our Nation’s core commitments–the ones that drew my family here after surviving the Holocaust. I recognize we live in a time when these commitments face serious challenges. As we work to meet those challenges, I stand with you and others committed to do our part, here in Colorado, to heal our Nation and perfect our Union.
