Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank my friend Senator Bennet for those remarks, for honoring the memories of those we have lost and commanding us to action. I remember getting a phone call from Michael Bennet that Friday morning as Senator Blumenthal and I were sitting at a firehouse in Sandy Hook, CT, learning what had happened just around the corner at a schoolhouse. I remember getting advice from Michael Bennet about what you do as an elected official in the midst of this tragedy because he had already been through it once before. Colorado had already been through it more than once before. I think about this macabre club that an increasing number of Members of the Senate and House belong to in which we have this memory bank of what to do when a mass shooting happens in your district or your State--a set of capacities that no Member of the House or Senate, no Governor ever had to think about or ever consider possessing decades ago. Now, we call each other when these things happen to impart advice as to how to be helpful to communities that are grieving. I am thankful to have friends like Senator Bennet, who can be with others at moments like this, but I hate the fact that he knows all too well what communities go through when something happens like happened earlier this week in Boulder. We thought about what to do to try to move this country and our colleagues to action after another spate of mass shootings. This is a really old chart that I brought down to the floor for years.…”