Undaunted Quotes

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“I was sitting up in my drab gown when the doctor returned to the room with the kind of solemn look that you never want to see on your doctor’s face. There was nothing further to be done. The fetus would not survive. I felt like I was losing a part of my soul. I had let myself believe another beautiful child was on the way, but I was wrong. Steve held me close. Not only were we experiencing an unspeakable sense of loss, but with more anguish than I could imagine, I had to abort my pregnancy out of medical necessity. The crushing procedure, throughout which I was again sobbing, required dilating the cervix in order to extract the fetus. Ignorant or vindictive opponents have attacked that procedure—one of the great tragedies of my life—as a “partial-birth abortion.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“That’s just one of the reasons why it’s so important to encourage people from a range of backgrounds and circumstances to join the ranks of our government officials. If we don’t have diverse representation, simple needs will be overlooked, and our legislation will never be as far reaching as it needs to be.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“February 2018, the House passed the Congressional Accountability Reform Act, based on that ME TOO Congress Act.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“The Member and Employee Training and Oversight On (ME TOO) Congress Act called for more transparency, streamlined the procedure for reporting harassment, and ensured that taxpayers weren’t paying for settlements. It stripped away the mandatory nondisclosure agreement and the mediation. The victims would be provided legal counsel, and interns and fellows would be covered by the law as well.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“Movements originate when the truth is revealed.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“Nobody had the power to bury a gun violence prevention bill, take a nap on immigration, or sweep major legislation under the rug and not vote on it.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“she had placed her husband’s cell phone, fully charged, inside the casket . . . and that she had called and left him messages for months after.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back

“We don’t get to choose our formative moments. Very often, adversity and failure shape us more permanently than fortune and success.”
― Jackie Speier, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back