13 Elizabeth Warren Quotes on Climate Change, Student Loans, and More
After Senator Elizabeth Warren announced that she would be running for president at the end of 2018, she quickly shot up through the crowded ranks of Democratic candidates vying for the title. Yes, she was previously a registered Republican (up until the mid-1990s), but today, Warren's face is amongst the most prominent of the Democratic party's progressive movement.
Recent polls show that the Massachusetts politician is courting increasing favor amongst potential voters. It helps that her robust Medium page has catapulted her into meme canon (#SheHasAPlanForThat), as it regularly shares excruciatingly detailed strategies that tackle everything from gun control and climate change, to criminal justice reform and Wall Street. Below, we've rounded up some of the senator's thoughts on the most pressing issues today from interviews, blog posts, and public appearances. Stay tuned for more quotes from the senator throughout the 2020 presidential race.
On Capitalism:
"I am a capitalist. Come on. I believe in markets. What I don’t believe in is theft, what I don’t believe in is cheating. That’s where the difference is. I love what markets can do, I love what functioning economies can do. They are what make us rich, they are what create opportunity. But only fair markets, markets with rules. Markets without rules is about the rich take it all, it’s about the powerful get all of it. And that’s what’s gone wrong in America." – CNBC | July 2018
On Student Loan Debt:
"We got into this crisis because state governments and the federal government decided that instead of treating higher education like our public school system—free and accessible to all Americans—they’d rather cut taxes for billionaires and giant corporations and offload the cost of higher education onto students and their families. The student debt crisis is the direct result of this failed experiment. [...] That’s why I’m calling for something truly transformational—the cancellation of up to $50,000 in student loan debt for 42 million Americans." – Medium | April 22, 2019
On Reproductive Health Care:
"Congress should pass new federal laws that protect access to reproductive care from right-wing ideologues in the states. Federal laws that ensure real access to birth control and abortion care for all women. Federal laws that will stand no matter what the Supreme Court does." – Medium | May 17, 2019
On Climate Change:
"I don't accept the Republicans' argument that boldly addressing climate change and having the world's strongest economy are incompatible. I believe that the exact opposite of that is true. Tackling our climate challenges will provide us with the opportunity to grow our economy, protect public health, and propel the United States to become the world leader in green innovation in the 21st century. We can address climate change and strengthen our economy by making major upgrades to our crumbling infrastructure, building more resiliency along our coasts and rivers, constructing more renewable energy, and promoting policies that will spur new, innovative research. These investments will protect our planet and create good jobs, with living wages, strong benefits, and safe working conditions." – Floor Speech on Climate Change Leadership | March 26, 2019
On Banning Plastic Straws:
"This is exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants us to talk about. [...] They want to be able to stir up a lot of controversy around your lightbulbs, around your straws, and around your cheeseburgers, when 70 percent of the pollution, of the carbon that we’re throwing into the air, comes from three industries. And we can set our targets and say that by 2028, 2030, and 2035—no more." – CNN Town Hall on Climate Change | September 4, 2019
On the Constitution and Obstruction of Justice:
"Under our constitutional system, Congress has wide authority to pass legislation needed to carry out any of the powers in the Constitution. I believe that current obstruction of justice laws also apply to a president’s abuse of his official powers. To ensure that no president is above the law, I have also proposed amending obstruction of justice statutes to explicitly allow for indictment when the President abuses the powers of the office and to clarify Congress’s intent that the Department of Justice can indict the President of the United States." – The New York Times | June 2019
On the War on Drugs:
"For four decades, we’ve subscribed to a “War on Drugs” theory of crime, which has criminalized addiction, ripped apart families—and largely failed to curb drug use. This failure has been particularly harmful for communities of color, and we need a new approach. It starts with legalizing marijuana and erasing past convictions, and then eliminating the remaining disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing. And rather than incarcerating individuals with substance abuse disorders, we should expand options that divert them into programs that provide real treatment." – Medium | August 20, 2019
On Criminalization and the 1994 Crime Bill:
"The 1994 crime bill exacerbated incarceration rates in this country, punishing people more severely for even minor infractions, and limiting discretion in charging and sentencing in our judicial system. That punitive 'tough on crime' approach was wrong, it was a mistake, and it needs to be repealed. There are some sections of law, like those relating to domestic violence, that should be retained—but the bulk of the law must go." – Medium | August 20, 2019
On Homelessness:
"My housing plan will help, by investing $500 billion over 10 years to build, preserve, and rehab affordable housing, creating 3.2 million new housing units and bringing down rental costs by 10 percent. It would also help families, especially families of color, buy homes and start to build wealth. Substantially improving housing affordability isn’t just good for the economy and for working families—it will also reduce homelessness and crime." – Medium | August 20, 2019
On the Death Penalty:
"I oppose the death penalty. A Warren administration would reverse Attorney General Barr’s decision to move forward with federal executions, and Congress should abolish the death penalty." – Medium | August 20, 2019
On the Pentagon's Budget:
"Let’s cut our bloated defense budget. The United States will spend more than $700 billion on defense this year alone. That is more than President Ronald Reagan spent during the Cold War. It’s more than the federal government spends on education, medical research, border security, housing, the FBI, disaster relief, the State Department, foreign aid-everything else in the discretionary budget put together. This is unsustainable. If more money for the Pentagon could solve our security challenges, we would have solved them by now." – Boston.com | November 29, 2018
On the Controversy Surrounding Her Ancestry:
"Like anyone who’s being honest with themselves, I know that I have made mistakes. I am sorry for harm I have caused. I have listened and I have learned a lot, and I am grateful for the many conversations that we’ve had together. It is a great honor to be able to partner with Indian Country, and that’s what I’ve tried to do as a senator, and that’s what I promise I will do as president of the United States of America." – a forum addressing Native American issues | August 2019
On Donald Trump:
"Donald Trump identifies a real problem in America, and that is a lot of folks are hurting. And then he takes a turn and says, “it’s the fault of those people, people who don’t look like you, people who don’t sound like you, people who don’t worship like you, people who are not the same color, who didn’t speak the same language.” What he wants to do is set working people against working people, black working people against white working people." – CNBC | July 2018
You Might Also Like
