Grappling with. I expected or at least hoped to be here for as long as the voters of californias 25th district deemed to be worthy of the honor of representing them. I thought i could make a difference here, in making our community, our great country, and the world, a better place for generations to come. I, like so many of my colleagues, ran for office because i believe our political system was broken, controlled by the power for on wealthy, ignoring and failing the regular people it is supposed to serve. I came here to give a voice to the unheard in the halls of power. I wanted to show young people, where people, working people, imperfect people, that they belong here, because this is the peoples house. I fell short of that and i am sorry. To every young person who saw themselves and their dreams reflected in me, i am sorry. To those who felt i gave them hope in one of the darkest times in our nations history, i am sorry. To my family, friends, staff, my colleagues, my mentors, to everyone who has supported and believed in me, im sorry. People whosands of spent hours knocking on doors in the hot summer sun, made countless phone calls, sacrificed more than i could ever note to give everything they couldnt every possible way so that i could be here, i am so, so sorry. And to every little girl who looked up to me, i hope that one day you can forgive me. The mistakes i made and people i have hurt that led to this moment will haunt me for the rest of my life, and i have to come to terms with that. Ever since those images first came out, i have barely left my bed. I have ignored all the calls and texts, and went to the darkest places a mind can go, and i have shed more tears than possible. I have hidden from the world because im terrified of facing the people i have left i have let down. But i made it through because people love to me most directly back into the light and reminded me i was stronger than that. To those who were by my side and my worst moments, you know who you are. I love you, i am so grateful, and i will never forget. I am here today because so many of the people i let down, people close to me, supporters, colleagues, people i never met, told me to stand back up, and that despite all my faults they still believed in me and they were still counting on me. Away realized that hiding and disappearing would be the one unforgivable sin. I will never shirk my responsibility for this set an ending to my time here, because i have to say more but i have to say more because this is bigger than me. Im leaving now because of a double standard. I am leaving because i no longer want to be used as a bargaining chip. I am leaving because i did not want to be peddled by papers and blogs and websites used by shameless operatives for the dirtiest gutter politics i have ever seen, and the rightwing media to drive clicks and expand audience by stripping intimate photos of me taken without my knowledge, let alone my consent, for the sexual entertainment of millions. I am leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully viewed my naked pictures and capitalized on my sexuality and continued that abuse with the entire country watching. I am leaving because of the thousands of vile, threatening emails, calls and texts that made me fear for my life in the lives of people i care about. Today is the first time i have left my apartment since the photos, taken without my consent, were released. And i am scared. I am leaving because for the sake of my community, staff, family and myself, i cant allow this to continue. I have been told people were angry when i stood strong after the first article was posted, and that they had hundreds more photos and Text Messages that they would release bit by bit until they broke me down to nothing, while they used my faults and my past to distract from the things that matter most. I am leaving because there is only one investigation that deserves the attention of this country, and that is the one that we voted on today. Today i ask you all to stand with me and commit to creating a future where this no longer happens to women and girls. Yes, i am stepping down, but i refused to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks, who dared to step into this light, who dare to be powerful. It might feel like they want in the shortterm, but they cant in the long term. We cannot let them. The way to overcome this setback is for women to keep showing up, keep running for office, keep stepping up as leaders, because the more we show up, the less power they have. I am leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of intentional acts of Sexual Violence and remain in board rooms, in the Supreme Court, in this very body and worst of all, in the oval office. So the fight goes on to create the change that every woman and girl in this country deserves. Here in the halls of congress, the fight will go on without me, and i trust so many of my colleagues to be strong on this front while i move on to one of the many other battlefields, because we have an entire culture that has to change and we see it in stark clarity today. The forces of revenge by a bitter, jealous man, cyber exploitation and sexual shaming that target our gender and a large segment of society that fears and hates powerful women have combined to push a young woman out of power and state that she doesnt elong here, yet a man who brags about his sexual predation, who has had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, who pushes polities that are uniquely harmful to women and who has filled the courts with judges who proudly rule to deprive women of the most fundamental rights to control their own bodies, sits in the highest office of the land. So today, as my last vote, i voted on impeachment proceedings, not just because of corruption, corruption of justice, or gross misconduct, because of the but because of the deepest abuse of power, including the abuse of power over women. As my final act i voted to move forward with the impeachment of donald trump, on behalf of the women of the United States of america. We will not stand down. We will not be broken. We will not be silenced. We will rise and we will make tomorrow better than today. Thank you, and i yield the balance of my time for now, but not forever. Katie hill is among katie hill is among five House Democrats who will leave office or not run for reelection. She is the only freshman member. The others on the list have served a minimum of 13 years in the house, and representative have served. Rano George Papadopoulos says he is running for the seat being vacated by katie hill. He tweeted, i am smelling blood in the water now that katie hill has resigned. Californias 25th Congressional District is wide open for the taking. Cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up sunday morning, we will talk about the rising u. S. The americant with enterprise institute, and then a discussion on the 40th anniversary of the iran hostage crisis. A former arabian hostage and former white house domestic. Olicy advisor watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern sunday morning. Join the discussion. Earlier this week, Lonnie Bunche outlined his priorities at his installation ceremony. Several lawmakers and Supreme CourtJustice John Roberts who is also the chancellor of the sicilian, were on hand for the ceremony. [applause] thank you. On behalf of the board of regents of the smithsonian, i would like to welcome everyone here to the installation of the 14th