Political Quotes

“I have the distinction of representing the Seventh District of Alabama which, as so many people should know if they do not, is the home of the civil rights movement in this country. It is the battlefield where so many of the battles were fought in the 1960s: The City of Birmingham where 40 years ago this April, children were marshaled in defense of equality in this country, and they were met with literally the teeth of dogs and the bite of fire hoses; Selma, Alabama, where 38 years ago individuals had to march across a bridge under a threat and rumor of sniper fire in order to petition for their right to vote. Montgomery, Alabama, is no longer in my district, but it is my hometown, and of course it is the city where Dr. King picked up the torch of the civil rights movement in part of the 20th century and gave it so much of its vibrancy and so much of its currency. What is striking about my district in 2003 is that if Martin Luther King could somehow come back and visit west Alabama and visit the battlegrounds on which he fought, he would see cities and counties that look very much the same as they did four decades ago. The rate of poverty in four counties in my district hovers around 40 percent, 40 percent in times of economic growth and 40 percent in times of economic decline. It is a constant condition of despair.”