Stuart Amoriell’s Campaign Launch Speech for US House of Representatives for NY’s 21^st District

12/3/2025

John Brown Farm

I can’t think of a more fitting location for this event than here at John Brown Farm. As an abolitionist, John Brown fought for the emancipation of enslaved Black people across America, believing it our sacred duty to fight for justice and equality. At his trial after the raid on Harper’s Ferry, he quoted Hebrews 13:3, “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.” 

What John Brown told his accusers that day in Virginia, he says to all of us here today with the enduring voice of history—that the plight of the dispossessed, the fear of those forgotten by the rule of law, of those betrayed by our failure to uphold American ideals—he tells us that their shackles are our shackles and that their fight for freedom and justice must be our fight as well.  

His example has a special poignancy and significance in today’s America. It is hard to look at the life of John Brown, to grasp the profound impact of his actions, and not feel saddened and disheartened by the rise of racism, injustice, and inequality that our great country faces today. It is impossible to look at John Brown’s example and not realize that as a nation and as a people, we have fallen short of our promise to greatness. 

But what is this promise to greatness?  We hear some tell us that America needs to regain its greatness.  But I say America’s greatness does not need to be remade or rebuilt; we only need remember what true greatness is.  The measure of our greatness is not found in our GDP or stock market, the missiles in our silos, the number of foreigners we expel from our land or the square footage of a gilded ballroom in Washington.  The source of our greatness is those American ideals that have for generations inspired and served as an example to all those seeking freedom and justice at home and around the world.  That promise to greatness we proclaimed to the world upon our nation’s founding, that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  

When Jefferson penned these sacred words, he immortalized in history our national belief that the dignity of man and the intrinsic rights of all people are not granted to us by the government or any political party or administration, but are inherent to everyone.

Now it is true that our nation has sometimes fallen short of this promise. Our nation failed to live up to these ideals with Indigenous nations, with racial and gender equality and with our neighbors fighting for the right to love the person of their choosing. But even when we stumble or fall, what sustains our nation’s greatness is our commitment to the idea that we can be better tomorrow than we are today. We are an unfinished nation that must uphold our promise to build a more perfect union, recognizing that the work is never done and that our promise will never be wholly fulfilled. 

The work ahead of us as a nation is daunting and incomplete, and if we continue to remain a divided nation, we will never achieve this promise, but Together We Can.

Together, we can respect the dignity of all people, including those neighbors who crossed deserts, navigated waters and battled jungles with nothing but the clothes on their backs in search of a better tomorrow. We must make their burden our burden and as a nation work towards a just and compassionate immigration policy, all while we still recognize the need to enforce our existing rules and laws.  But far too often, the current enforcement of these laws seems designed to humiliate and harm, rather than uphold justice. This should trouble us all—and remind us of our sacred promise to greatness.  As a nation, we may not always agree on policies or directions, but we should all recognize the strength and courage immigrants show in their pursuit of the American dream. 

Instead of acknowledging this strength, some have distorted what American "strength" truly means, in an effort to divide us and gain political advantage. True strength is not found in division, exclusion, or cruelty. Strength is the mother who sends her children to school then walks to work, with the constant fear of knowing that at any moment she could be unjustly imprisoned, possibly not seeing her children again for decades. Strength is the father who fled oppression, risking his life to come here in hopes of a better future for his family. Strength is the millions who applied for legal status in good faith, trusting in the promise of American fairness, only to face delay, denial, and indifference. 

Together we can and must do better. We must ensure 

·      That everyone receives due process and is treated fairly under the law

·      That the government never again uses the threat of family separation to coerce compliance and self-deportation.

·      That no one is intimidated into signing documents they cannot read or understand.

·      And that no one faces extra-judicial incarceration in prisons in El Salvador or any other nation in an attempt by this administration to avoid due process.

Yes, our laws must be enforced—but with fairness and compassion. When we are compelled to remove law-abiding, hard-working people, it should be done with sorrow, not celebration. There should be tears in our eyes, not laughter in our voices.  This is what greatness demands of us.

While we continue the fight for the dignity of all people, we must also work to protect the most vulnerable within our communities. We must confront the hunger and food insecurity that exists not only in distant parts of America, but right here at home in our own communities. These problems cannot and should not be solved by the government alone, but with the government’s help, communities, businesses, non-profits, and neighbors can work together and declare that we will no longer allow our children to go to bed with the pain of hunger. And let me be clear, we find it unacceptable for any child in our country to go hungry, regardless of their national origin or status—this is what greatness demands of us.  

Despite what some of our friends on the right might claim, I reject the premise that Democrats don’t believe in self-reliance and personal responsibility. Of course we believe that everyone needs to do their fair share.  This isn’t just a belief—it's how we live our lives. It shows in neighbors who contribute their food and time to local food pantries, the teacher that stays after school and gives her own time to help a struggling student, in our local businesses that give back to community organizations, in those advocating for conservation because they believe it’s our duty to protect the environment, in people standing on street corners participating in the American political dialogue through protest and in all those who dedicate themselves to the many causes and nonprofits working to make this a more perfect nation. 

Yes, we believe in self-reliance and personal responsibility. But there is a fundamental difference. While we hold these values dear, we also refuse to let families go hungry when they fall short of achieving them. We refuse to use food as ransom or deny SNAP benefits to families for not meeting arbitrary quotas. While some may fall short of doing their fair share, we will always lend a hand to those struggling, to those most vulnerable.  This is what greatness demands.

We must also ensure our Nation honors its commitments and responsibilities to our seniors. This starts with ensuring they have access to affordable, reliable healthcare. It means making sure they are never isolated because they lack transportation or adequate housing. It means making sure no older American is ever again forced to choose between food or prescription.  Those seniors in our communities built the foundation we stand on today and now it is our turn and our obligation to ensure they can age with dignity, security and comfort.

We must work to ensure affordable, reliable healthcare not just for our seniors, but for all our neighbors.  Improving healthcare access and affordability is both an economic necessity and a moral imperative.  Our communities face higher healthcare costs, extended travel times to reach care, difficulty in finding specialists and providers who accept new patients and challenges in scheduling timely appointments.  

We must ensure that Congress renews the expiring ACA subsidies and doesn’t play politics with the lives of our families and our neighbors.  We must ensure that insurance providers continue to cover life-saving vaccines, despite this administration’s dubious decisions that fly in the face of science and sound medical advice.  We must support and incentivize clinics, hospitals and providers to increase their viability in rural communities, ensuring our continued access to reliable healthcare.

Improving the healthcare system isn’t limited to just physical care alone, as our communities also face a significant shortage of mental health providers, leaving residents without the essential care they need.  Many of our neighbors struggle with the burden of depression, and too many of our brightest lights have been extinguished due to suicide. Too many in our communities struggle with addiction, and too many of our neighbors have been lost to the bottle or pill.  As a nation and a community, we must do better at recognizing those who battle these issues and ensure they have a path out of the darkness.

The physical and mental well-being of our neighbors is only possible when we are provided the opportunity to thrive. And as such, we must also work to rebuild our local economies by working to solve the affordable housing crisis that exists in communities across our nation, including right here in Northern New York. We must promote fair wages for all, support small businesses that are the backbone of our economy and communities, improve broadband and cellular access, build new roads, utility, sewer and water systems that extend into our rural areas, increase the availability and accessibility of job and career training programs and improve public transportation that provides both access to employment and job mobility. 

But long-term economic prosperity is only possible through a commitment to ensuring that future generations have access to the best education available.  We are seeing this promise broken time and time again, not only by the current administration, but over prior decades as our Nation has repeatedly failed to prioritize education and the futures of our children.  Greatness demands more.  

We must invest in our teachers.  Their commitment to this vocation demands not just our respect but our financial support through better pay.  We need to expand early childhood education through programs like Head Start and Early Head Start, ensuring all of our children have access to these important programs.  We must continue to support and expand Title 1, ensuring our most vulnerable in low-income communities are not locked out of the American Dream.   And again, we mean all children, regardless of their nationality or status.  This is what greatness demands.

The federal government must increase investment in our local schools.   Our schools should be palaces that reflect our commitment to education.  We must modernize schools through infrastructure grants and programs ensuring our children have access to the best curriculum, technology and facilities. We must support our community colleges and trade schools and ensure higher education is affordable to anyone that chooses that path.  And to those who Dream, we must finally remove the never-ending uncertainty and reaffirm our commitment to DACA by making it the law of the land.

And we must also protect those that will come after us by being good stewards of the land and environment entrusted to us.  We must invest in renewable energy, protect our waterways, strengthen protections for our wilderness and forests, reduce emissions and pollution by promoting and incentivizing green energy solutions, promote sustainable, local agriculture, and empower our local communities to make decisions that will protect our landscapes and environment for generations to come. 

While all of this is important, and we must remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities, we must also recognize the government’s role in protecting our nation as a whole.  

We must work to rebuild trust with NATO and our allies, so any potential adversary understands that when they oppose or attack the United States, they confront not only the most powerful fighting force in history but also the determination and will of the entire international community standing alongside us.

We must provide unwavering support for our troops, providing them with the most advanced training and equipment necessary to safely and effectively carry out their missions, and we must honor their commitment to our nation’s safety and security by ensuring fair and competitive pay.

We must once again value knowledge, experience and expertise in leadership, which is not exclusive to any one political party, and ensure those who lead our soldiers into battle and make the decisions that put them in harm’s way are once again held to the highest standards.

We must respect international law and the rules of engagement.  If a combatant or suspected criminal surrenders, we apprehend them, not execute them.  This is what greatness demands.  

These and the many other problems we face today are immensely challenging and if we are to rise to meet this challenge, we must rise together as one Nation, indivisible. If this American experiment is to succeed, it will require all of us to engage without marginalizing or demonizing those we disagree with.    

This does not mean there aren’t real policy differences among us—not only on the national stage, but right here in our own communities.  But while we may disagree, we must do so from a place of compassion and respect and with the shared goal of making this a more perfect union.  

We must cease viewing those with whom we disagree as the enemy, assigning them labels like fascist, socialist, racist, unintelligent, lazy, un-American or traitor. Nicknames and name-calling as a way of belittling and demeaning our political opponents is beneath us, and our Nation’s promise to greatness demands better from all of us.  

We will no longer permit those who seek to destroy America’s ideals to do so under the guise of greatness. We must stand here today and once again proclaim to the world that the time of division, pettiness, and small ideas is over and that from this point forward, we reclaim for our America what the measure and meaning of the word greatness truly is.   

But it won’t be easy.  It isn’t easy to listen to those with whom we strongly disagree and it is not enough to sit back and be angry and frustrated—hoping someone else will solve our problems or liberate our neighbors from physical, social or economic bonds.  We must remember that their bondage is our bondage and, like John Brown before us, we have a sacred duty to complete this unfinished nation, to make America a more perfect union, and to uphold our promise to greatness.  It is because of this that I stand with you today and announce my candidacy for election to the US House of Representatives for New York’s 21^st District.  

The problems we face are significant, and we can’t solve them divided, but together we can. 

God bless ALL of us and God bless the GREAT United States of America.  Thank you