WASHINGTON, DC — The Young Democrats of America are immensely proud, grateful, and indebted to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her years of service to the Democratic Party, to the people of her district, and to the people of the United States of America. In her 35 years in office, Speaker Pelosi has demonstrated the grace, poise, strength, and integrity that we all desire in a leader. We continue to strive to emulate her leadership and will work to honor her legacy as future leaders in the Democratic Party.

In her time in office, Speaker Pelosi sponsored and fought for legislation on battling the AIDS epidemic, protecting our National Parks, creating affordable housing, and combatting homelessness

As the only woman to be leader of the Democratic House Caucus, she ushered in historic wins for her caucus and was an inspiration and a pioneer for a now historic number of women currently serving in the House of Representatives, while working across partisan lines to help create meaningful legislation even in the minority.

As the only woman to be Speaker of the US House of Representatives, she created a legacy under four Presidents and shepherded through incredible and impactful legislation like the Affordable Health Care Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, and the Inflation Reduction Act, while holding those in power in our country and even the President of the United States accountable (twice).

We will deeply miss Nancy Pelosi’s leadership as we venture into this new era of American Politics. However, we cannot thank her and her family enough for the sacrifices they have had to make in service for our country and for the support she has given to the Young Democrats of America.

As Speaker Pelosi stated in her speech to the 2019 YDA Convention in Indianapolis, “We will go out there and fight our fight, be creative in our thinking. We will do all of that but always in a way that honors the values of our founders.”

WASHINGTON, DC — The Young Democrats of America, in no uncertain terms, condemn the antisemitic statements and threats made by Kanye West on Twitter on Saturday, October 8 and

call upon Twitter, Meta, and all other social media companies to bar Kanye West from their platforms following their own guidelines against hate speech and threats of violence.

Mr. West’s behavior has grown more and more erratic, violent, and bigoted over the past several years. While many will turn a blind eye to his antisemitic statements and hateful behavior or make excuses for him as being “an eccentric artist”, we cannot in good conscience continue to stand by and watch as this man continues to degrade, dehumanize, and threaten our Jewish communitites. Antisemitism should be called out and condemned in all its forms, no matter who or how it is communicated. This is not artistic. This is not pushing the boundaries of social norms. This is not acting as a provocateur. This is violent, bigoted behavior and it must be held accountable as such.

We also call upon Tucker Carlson and the Fox Corporation to condemn the actions and statements of Kanye West after Carlson gave him a two-hour special on Fox News, where he was able to spout off misinformation and dehumanizing, bigoted statements against marginalized communities and other artists’ fans on national television while sporting a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt. These acts and these statements should not be celebrated for the sake of ratings but condemned for the hatred that they are.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents were at an all-time high in 2021 totaling 2,717 incidents, a 34 percent increase from the year before. That is higher than any of the 40 years that ADL has been tracking these incidents. ADL points to 2016 as the beginning of the rise in antisemitic behavior, when President Trump was elected and emboldened the white nationalist movement. The public pays attention and mirrors the behaviors that are seen as tolerated in popular culture, such as the statements that are regularly made by Kanye West. If they are not condemned and are given a platform, the violence against the Jewish community will plausibly only continue to rise.

We stand with the YDA Jewish Caucus and our Jewish communities. We encourage all of our allies to do the same and educate their followers on the impact of antisemitism.

WASHINGTON, DC — The Young Democrats commend the Biden Administration on their effort to forgive $10,000 of debt for those making under $125,000 a year and $20,000 for pell grant recipients making under $125,000. This is a much needed step in the right direction down a very long path to rectifying years of debtors taking advantage of millions of those seeking higher degrees. We hope and know that the administration can expand upon this so that no one owes money for pursuing a post secondary education.

From public universities raising tuition costs astronomically ahead of inflation to student loan corporations putting terms in front of young adults with minimal financial literacy, this is a system that has not worked for the betterment of our society, nor one that exists anywhere in the world. In virtually every other country, no one has the same amount of individuals who face the size of debt like Americans do for services like education or basic necessities like health care.

Right now, 42.4 million people (roughly 12% of the population) have outstanding student loans in the United States. The majority of those who owe money are millennials and Gen Z, who owe an average of $38,000 and will no doubt be owing this money for the rest of their lives due to interest rates. Forgiving $10,000 of that will be a start but is by no means the end.

President Biden and Vice President Harris ran on forgiving all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from public colleges, universities, private HBCUs, and MSIs for those earning up to $125,000 and the Young Democrats of America join organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in continuing to be committed to pushing to make sure that those campaign promises are realized. We will work so that the majority, if not all, of student debt is canceled in the future, as well as making a 4 year college education affordable for everyone who wants it. Public higher education should be a service that is given to Americans at an affordable cost to everyone, as higher rates of higher education benefit society greatly.

In terms of the political and electoral ramifications, we also raise that total student debt cancellation is still a very popular issue. During the Midterm Elections when the Democratic Party is looking for ways to inspire hope amongst young voters, expanding on this in a non-means tested way will ultimately be an easy win for the party.

We issue the same call as we always have on this matter: Cancel Student Debt. All of it.

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We are however still hopeful that more steps will be taken to combat the ongoing climate crisis, to draw a close to the record breaking generational wealth gap, and to protect our working families across the country. YDA held out hope that the original Build Back Better Act would have passed before it was blocked and gutted by the Senate, though we concede that even that piece of legislation could have been improved overall. However, the Young Dems firmly believe that this $739 billion package is a major step in the right direction.

YDA would have appreciated the Senate capping the price of insulin at $35 as proposed by the Senate Democrats, before it was removed from the overall package. Millions of Americans live with the effects of Diabetes and rely on insulin as a life-saving, prescription drug. In this economy, it is important as ever that people must not be forced to choose between their health and their bank account. We urge the Democrats in Congress to continue to work on capping these costs among the many other campaign promises that we have heard from the Biden Administration and Democrats across the country.

For now, we are basking in the victory of our Democratic legislators on Capitol Hill. Our hope is that successes like this may continue to be a trend in Congress and that we can restore faith to voters around the country. YDA will continue to support our nominees especially during the 2022 midterm elections and will raise our wins along the way.

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We must be clear about one truth: doing away with Roe will not stop abortions from happening. Conservatives will lean on their so-called moral superiority and take their pearl-clutching tactics in front of abortion clinics but fail to recognize that overturning this decision can only lead to harm. This has been a strategy that Republicans from state legislatures to Washington, DC have plotted ever since Roe was ruled on. Every single law passed which stripped away reproductive rights has led to this moment, from forcing people to carry out unwanted or medically impossible pregnancies to charging those who have abortions with murder.

Our party must work harder to fight back against this oppressive decision. We here in the Young Democrats of America know that abortion is healthcare. We know that it is a right that everyone who can get pregnant deserves. Every single person deserves to have complete autonomy over their own body, full stop. We will continue to do what we can for as long as we can, and however we can to make that known.

We encourage our members to make their voices heard — not just by the Supreme Court Justices complicit in life-threatening oppression, but at their state legislatures to make sure that all states have proper protections for reproductive freedom. We are incredibly disappointed to see that SCOTUS seems to have more concern for the protection of their own information than they have for the protection of their fellow human beings.

We call on President Biden and Congress to stop at nothing to ensure that we can protect all people’s right to reproductive care.

And for anyone who tries to lean on their religious beliefs as a crutch to justify their weak moral backbones, we hope that your God is a merciful one because we will not be.

“I want to acknowledge and apologize for a wrong that the Young Democrats of America committed. Earlier this month, the Young Democrats of America held a major national event on the first night and weekend of Ramadan. This was highly disrespectful, inconsiderate, and hurtful to many of our Muslim members. While we tried to take active steps to mitigate the harm caused by selecting these dates, harm was still inevitably done and arguably compounded.

On behalf of the Young Democrats of America, I sincerely apologize to our Muslim members, our Young Democrats of America Muslim Caucus, and anybody else adversely affected by our decision. Looking forward, we will be providing opportunities for education and training for our elected and administrative officers, along with working with our Diversity and Outreach Committee on what future structures, supports, and even roles may need to be created in order to better live up to our commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable organization. “

WHEREAS the Russian Military has committed numerous atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine including targeting civilians, children, medical personnel, journalists, hospitals, schools, residential areas, and bomb shelters; looting; rape; deportation of Ukrainians to Russia; cutting off cities from food, water, power, and aid; not honoring humanitarian corridors; disguising military forces as noncombatants; and the use of violence to suppress protests in occupied areas; and

WHEREAS the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, and the Ukrainian people have put up a courageous, inspiring, and successful defense against the Russian invasion; and

WHEREAS Belarus has allowed the Russian military to use Belarusian territory for the invasion including allowing Russian missile launchers on its territory to fire into Ukraine; and

WHEREAS this invasion has already caused more than 10 million Ukrainians to flee their homes and over 3.5 million to seek refuge in other countries; and

WHEREAS the Russian military has attacked and seized multiple nuclear facilities putting Ukrainians, Russians, and Europeans at risk of a nuclear incident. The Russian military has also been holding facility workers hostage; and

WHEREAS the Russian Federation is in violation of international law including the UN charter; and

WHEREAS the impact to the rules-based international order, global security, and the credibility of future international agreements like the Budapest Memorandum have been put in jeopardy; and

WHEREAS the Russian Federation has made repeated threats to many countries including of a nuclear nature; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America denounces and condemns to the strongest possible degree the actions of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and its citizens and we call on the Russian Federation to immediately end its invasion and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America condemns the Belarusian government for its participation and calls on the Belarusian government to immediately stop assisting the Russian Federation in this war and remove Russian troops from their territory; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America affirm its solidarity with the people of Ukraine; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America call on the international community to do everything it can to assist the refugees fleeing Ukraine; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America express its full support for the rules based international order and believes that the borders of nations should not be able to be changed by military force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America call on the Russian Federation to immediately stop its attacks on nuclear facilities and to immediately leave unimpeded the workers of nuclear facilities so they can do their jobs safely and effectively; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America support the investigation and prosecution of all war crimes committed in Ukraine; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America recognize energy dependence on Russia as a strategic vulnerability and calls on all countries to reduce with the goal to eliminate energy dependence on Russia; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America support Ukraine’s effort to join the European Union and calls on European Union to immediately admit Ukraine; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America call on the international community to provide more aid including weapons to Ukraine as well as help Ukraine with rebuilding after the war; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America call for on the international community to impose even stronger sanctions against the Russian Federation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America call on all companies to stop doing business in Russia; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America reaffirm our strong support for both NATO and NATO allies in face of this renewed threat to European security; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America condemn Russian threats and affirms that there are no winners of strategic nuclear war; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Young Democrats of America support Russian and Belarusian protestors; and

FINALLY RESOLVED Слава Україні!

We witnessed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson get put through the ringer in the Senate Judiciary Committee. But through all the vile questions lobbed at her by Republicans like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley, Justice Jackson remained poised and graceful, proving she was more than qualified to be on the Supreme Court.

Leader McConnell would have loved nothing more than to block this nomination, just like he did to President Obama when he said that his greatest accomplishment was not allowing Obama to nominate a Supreme Court Justice. The Republicans are trying to pack the courts with the right wing ideologues. This is a win for justice and a win for the American people as Justice Jackson’s confirmation triumphed over all of the obstacles.

We commend Chairman Durbin for his diligent, fair confirmation hearing process as well as the Democratic Senators who voted unanimously to confirm her and the Republican Senators who chose to take this process seriously and not an opportunity to campaign.

YDA is looking forward to Justice Jackson’s service on the Supreme Court and all of the young people she will inspire to serve justice, our democracy, and our country.

This is one of the greatest moments in American history.

“We need people to know that we are not a lost cause state but a state that has not reached its full potential,” Idaho Young President Kati Durkin said in a speech to the YDA general body in her welcoming remarks. “ In a time where states like Idaho have been counted out by so many across the country, as usual young Dems are setting the standard for supporting and investing in our red and rural states.”

YDA was joined by the Mayor of Boise Lauren McLean, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, Emily Walton, Newcastle City Council Member Paul Charbonneau, Rudy Soto, Idaho Senator Melissa Wintrow, Lt. Gov Candidate Terri Pickens Manweiler, and several members of the Idaho Democratic Party. A host of training sessions were held over the course of the 3 days in Boise, including their first ever narcan training put on by the Central District Health.

During the beginning of YDA’s General Body National Committee meeting, High School Caucus chair and Idahoan JJ Byrne officially registered to vote in front of the entire National Committee, highlighting an incredible moment for young voters and stressing the importance that everyone should register to vote before the upcoming midterms.

A unit from Guam was officially chartered for the first time adding their name to the other 45 states and territories under the YDA organization.

The National Committee also elected 2 new representatives to the Democratic National Committee, Stephanie Campanha Wheaton of New York and Dunixi Guereca of California.

The National Committee decided the site of the 2023 Young Democrats of America Convention will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, dates to be determined.

President Quentin Wathum-Ocama commented on the significance of this historic event, “We are doing what other organizations are not and that is what our administration wants to do. We want to go into the Red States, hear straight from the source, and see how we can mobilize our young voters everywhere. No stone unturned. No vote taken for granted. We hope this energy from this weekend can carry us through the Midterms and into a strong majority in Congress.”

The National Committee adjourned until the next meeting to be held at the end of 2022.

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Lauren was born in Boston, Massachusetts and spent her formative years in Houston, Texas, and Cazenovia, New York. She attended the University of Notre Dame, graduating with honors in 1997. While at Notre Dame, Lauren participated in the Center for Social Concerns, leading and developing community engagement and social justice seminars for students. Lauren studied her sophomore year in Angers, France at l’Université Catholique de l’Ouest. She earned a Master of Public Administration from Boise State University as the first Carl Burke Fellow.

Lauren moved to Boise, Idaho shortly after graduating from Notre Dame and marrying her high school sweetheart, Scott.

Public service has been an integral part of Lauren’s career and personal life. In 2001, she led the historic Boise Foothills Open Space Levy campaign and, along with hundreds of dedicated volunteers, secured protection of the Boise Foothills for future generations. Lauren served on Boise City Council from 2011–2019, and served as Council President from 2017–2019. During her time on City Council she led the effort to pass Boise’s 100% Clean Energy Plan.

Three months into her first term as the Mayor of Boise, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Despite the very real challenges brought on by the virus, she continues to lead boldly, with the community at the forefront of every decision.

As Mayor, she has led the fight against climate change, setting ambitious goals to lead the city into an environmentally and economically resilient future. Her vision is to create a city that is truly for everyone — one that offers equitable access to housing, living wage jobs, transportation, and a seat at the table for residents when decisions about the future of Boise are being made.

Lauren currently serves on the Board of Governors at the Andrus Center at Boise State University. She has been recognized as one of the nation’s most promising young political leaders by the Aspen Institute and New Deal Leaders. She was selected to participate in the 2020 Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative on Economic Recovery.

Lauren and Scott are parents to Madeleine and Aiden. She is an avid trail runner, outdoorswoman, and reader. In her free time, she and her family love to explore Idaho’s beautiful backcountry by foot or by ski.