In my teens, I worked as an aide in my community supervising and mentoring youth in various programs and delivering lunches to needy students.

No family should have to depend on the labor of its children to put food on the table and no person should be forced to work in captivity.

No one has the right to threaten the health, education, and well-being of children by involving them in illegal or inappropriate work.

Justice is not available to all equally; it is something that many of us must struggle to achieve. As an elected official, I know that fighting for what is just is not always popular but it is necessary; that is the real challenge that public servants face and it is where courage counts the most. Without courage, our action or inaction results in suffering of the few and injustice for all.

My niece was a sexual-assault victim. My sister is a survivor of domestic violence. We have more shelters for animals than for battered women. That's not the message we should be sending.

People have to be reminded that unions played a very historic role in our economy.

My father was a member of the Teamsters Union in California, where he helped to organize better health care for workers. My mother worked for more than 20 years on an assembly line.