Rep. Takano Addresses 63rd Anniversary of March on Washington Rally: “America is an Idea Worth Fighting For.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Representative Mark Takano (CA-39) participated in the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington alongside Minority Leader Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Representative Yvette Clarke (NY-9), Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Leaders provided remarks at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, then participated in a march to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial led by Reverend Al Sharpton.

Below are Rep. Taknao's remarks as prepared:

"We are not here simply to remember history. We are here because the work that began 63 years ago is unfinished. We are here because the battles we thought had been long settled have resurfaced:

"Birthright citizenship is under attack. Americans feel the need to carry a passport to prove they belong. Fascists are using their power to intimidate Americans into silence.

"These are not echoes of some distant past. They are the reality of this moment.

"And this moment is an awakening: norms alone will not protect us.

"Every generation must take up the work of renewing and perfecting the idea of America so that America lives up to its promise. There are those who would have us believe America is about blood and soil. Replacing America's founding principles with a narrow definition of who belongs and who does not. That being an American is about how many generations your family has lived here, where your parents were born, and what you look like.

"But that is not the America generations of people have struggled, marched, bled, and died for.

"And what is the idea of America?

"It is the idea that all of us are created equal. That government derives its power from the people. That every person deserves liberty and justice. And that being an American is not determined by your race, your religion, or where your parents came from, or who you love.

"The work of renewing and perfecting the idea of America does not happen on its own.

"People had to fight for it.

"John Lewis fought for that idea. At 23 years old he stood here in 1963 and demanded that America live up to it promise. Two years later, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, police beat him for demanding the right to vote. He knew what awaited him on the other side of the bridge. Yet, he crossed it anyway.

"Because America was an idea worth fighting for.

"Wong Kim Ark fought for that idea. Born in San Francisco to immigrant parents, he challenged the government when it tried to deny him entry into his own country. In 1898, he took his fight to the Supreme Court-and won. If you are born here, you are an American. Period. More than a century later, we are fighting that battle again.

"Because America is an idea worth fighting for.

"And my own family fought for that idea. During World War II, my great-uncle Monzo served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Fighting and bleeding alongside other segregated units like the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen. He fought for the United States while my parents and grandparents were among more than 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated by their own government.

"Think about that contradiction. A country that questioned their loyalty and took away their freedom. And still, Japanese American soldiers fought and died for an America that had not yet lived up to its promise. The motto of the 442nd was simple: Go for Broke. Risk everything. Give everything. And they did.

"Today, we are being called to our own "Go for Broke" moment. To fight for the character of our country. We fight for an America where nobody feels that they have to carry a passport to prove they belong. We fight for an America where citizenship cannot be stripped away because of who your parents are. We must fight for an America where the government does not use fear and intimidation to silence its own people. And we must fight for an America where every eligible citizen can vote and have that vote counted.

"The people who gathered here 63 years ago understood something we cannot afford to forget: Progress is not permanent. Rights do not protect themselves. Democracy does not defend itself.

"Every generation inherits the idea of America-and then must decide whether it is willing to fight for it.

"My great-uncle Monzo made his choice. Wong Kim Ark made his choice. John Lewis made his choice. Dr. King made his choice. Now it is our turn!

"Because America does not belong to one political party. America does not belong to a bloodline. And it certainly doesn't belong to one man.

"America belongs to all of us. Let's Go For Broke. Go all in for democracy. Go all in for equality. Go all in for freedom. We cannot turn back. Let's finish the assignment, make Dr. King's dream a reality, and fulfill the promise of a better America."

Video of Rep. Takano remarks can be found here.

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