Political Quotes

“I come to the floor this afternoon to speak also about the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This is S. 4. Listening to my friend from Virginia here describe some of the history that he and his family have been through, again, this is an important part of the discussion and debate when we talk about one of the very cornerstones of our identity as an extraordinary nation, this principle of democracy and freedom and fair and open elections. The majority leader filed cloture on the motion to proceed on Monday evening, and despite some very real reservations that I have--and it is fair to talk about those reservations--I will be among those who vote to begin debate on this measure when we have this vote in a few minutes here. I will do so because I strongly support and I believe that Congress should enact a bipartisan reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. We have done that. Congress has done that five times since 1965, typically--typically--by an overwhelming margin here in the Senate. It has been about 15 years now since our last amendment to the Voting Rights Act, and I think it is fair to say that 15 years after passage, it is probably timely and necessary to look at updates. In order to do that, I think that what we have to do is we have to step back from the partisanship. We have to step back from the politicization that is driving this conversation.…”