EXCERPT:
OCASIO-CORTEZ: “You know, I absolutely think so, for a lot of reasons. One is that if we had passed a Green New Deal by January of this year, that would mean that we had a political establishment that respects science, that is willing to mobilize and make major investments to protect the American people and, frankly, our global population. And it also means that the actual implications of the Green New Deal, things — and just basic values in the resolution such as universal healthcare and in actual respect for industrial policy and the ability for us — you know, people say ‘the government’ as though it’s somebody else, but at its best, in a functioning democracy, the government is the people. That’s what makes democracy so sacred and beautiful. And with those — with those mechanisms in place, then I do believe we would have been better off, we would have respected the science early, we would have listened to scientists, we would have generated a policy and enacted policy that is based in science and not politicizing how manly you are if you don’t wear a mask, and we would be quick and responsive and unafraid.”