Grace Meng

As the daughter of immigrants, growing up in New York City, you are either at the table or on the menu. ”

I take the definition and title of my job - Representative - seriously. That's what I will be above and beyond everything else. ”

It's nice to be a woman, and it's nice to be an Asian. But what's more important is what I can bring back to my district. ”

I want to see America thrive. I want to see all different families here succeed. ”

I was raised as a Christian, where all you're taught is to be humble, even if you did something right. Politics is the complete opposite of: you do something a little nice, and you tell everyone. ”

Being the only Asian-American in the State Legislature, I've had no choice but to reach across the aisle. ”

I've loved being in legislative office on a state level, and I think on a federal level there are so many more opportunities. I'm so excited to accomplish more. ”

Queens is so often treated as a stepchild and labeled as an outer borough. At the very least, if I could help bring more attention to what we need, and what the federal government needs to do to improve the quality of life of people right here in Queens - any way that I can do that, I'm very happy to do that. ”

There are many Asian-Americans who are living in poverty, especially our senior citizens. ”

When people see Barack Obama, they don't necessarily see an African-American president. They see someone who is a child of immigrants. They see someone whose family has worked hard and struggled. And they see many similarities between themselves and Barack Obama. ”