Tulsi Gabbard

Our nation was founded on the principle that our government should be of the people, by the people, and for the people - where all people are treated equally, and with respect, in these United States of America.

No matter where you're from, no matter what religion you practice, your ethnicity, race, or anything else - what is it that can bring us together as people? It is, what we call in Hawaii, aloha... sincere, deep love and respect for other people as children of God.

One reason I'm grateful to call Hawai'i home is that the people of these islands embrace diversity and celebrate the colorful fabric of race, ethnicity, and religion that make up our people, place, and culture.

When I deployed to Iraq with my fellow soldiers, putting our lives on the line for our country, no one in the media questioned our patriotism because of our religion.

I am a military police officer and I have served on two deployments; my first was to Iraq, in a medical unit, and my second deployment was to Kuwait, as a military police platoon leader.

This commitment to equality and justice for all are the ideals that our country was founded upon and what we continue to aspire to as people. We cannot be complacent, and must vigilantly affirm this again and again, as bigotry and hatred have an insidious way of seeping into our society.

I believe we can make progress on bringing true equality and fairness back to our government if we continue to work together and make our voices heard.

We need to end our country's counterproductive regime change war policies that have undermined our national security, destroyed so many countries, and taken so many lives. We must instead focus on investing in and rebuilding our communities right here at home.