Political Quotes

“Madam President, I thank the Senator for this question, which is at the center of this moment. This can't just be about the 30- some odd Senators who have taken to the floor over the last 12 hours. And by the way, we have now been on the floor for over 12 hours. This has to be about something bigger. This has to be about a national movement that commands this place to act. It has happened before, and it has to happen here. It means voters have to elevate this issue on their priority list. It means more people have to start asking questions about why their Members of Congress, why their Senators, are voting in a way that is contrary to the vast majority of their constituents. It means everyone in this country deciding not to accept what exists today as the status quo. And let's remind everyone, as Senator Durbin has over and over again, that what exists today is not just a regularity of mass shootings; that prior to 2008, it happened at the pace of one per every 2 months--these are the big shootings--that now happen once every single month. It is also the regularity of gun violence that happens in our cities, such that kids in Hartford, CT, explained to me a year ago that police sirens and ambulance sirens are their lullaby at night because it is just a regular facet of their existence. The American people can't accept that either.…”