Political Quotes

“I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the memory of Mark Hatfield, a former Governor and U.S. Senator from the State of Oregon. Mr. Hatfield passed away on August 7, 2011, in Portland at the age of 89. The son of a Baptist railroad blacksmith and a schoolteacher, Mr. Hatfield was born in Dallas, OR, on July 12, 1922. He graduated from Willamette University in 1943, having fast-tracked his studies so that he could enlist with the Naval Reserve. As a young man, Mr. Hatfield served in World War II at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and later saw firsthand the devastation of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. These experiences shaped him personally and politically, and he became an outspoken advocate for peace, and a prominent opponent of the Vietnam war. In 1966, Governor Hatfield stood alone in the National Governors Association when he voted against supporting the Vietnam war. And in 1970, as a Member of the U.S, Senate, he sponsored the McGovern- Hatfield amendment with Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, which would have created a deadline to end U.S. military action in Vietnam. Senator Hatfield later was one of only two Republicans along with Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa--to vote against the 1991 Senate resolution authorizing the first gulf war. Mr. Hatfield will also be remembered as a leader in the fight against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In 1982, he introduced S.J. Res.…”