Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have been watching as Senators have come to the floor over the past couple days to pay tribute to John McCain, to share their stories, and to reflect on a full life of service to his country. I have known John McCain for 25 years, not as long as some of my colleagues, but long enough to take the measure of the man and to appreciate his dedication to his family, to the U.S. military, to the Senate, to Arizona, and to the Nation. He was a statesman and a global citizen, and our loss is all the deeper because we are living in a time where people like John are in short supply. Like many others, I had my disagreements with John and found myself on the wrong end of his temper, but more often, I saw him as a man of ideals and a man who stood up for what he believed in. For me, nowhere was this as strong and clear as on the issue of torture, and I wanted to talk a little bit about that today and really to share my appreciation for him. It was June 2013, and John McCain and I were visiting Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to see the detention facilities that had been hastily put together after the invasion of Afghanistan in September 2001. It was a hot, sunny, sultry day. We had toured the base, received briefings and boxed lunches from the commander, and looked at three separate detention facilities.…”