Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator for that question, and I appreciate your talking about how this happened organically. We didn't decide to do this until this morning. We certainly had been talking about the need to show that we were sick and tired of the normal trajectory of thoughts and prayers being sent out and then a dissipation into nothingness, as is the trend line after these tragedies. We knew we had to do something different. But what is wonderful about this is that much of this is organic. This is now a dozen colleagues who are on the floor at close to midnight this evening, and the gallery is increasing in numbers at this very time. I think the last I saw, 100,000 people were talking about this right now on Twitter. It has been the top trending topic all day long. Thousands of calls are coming in to our office. I hope this is a moment in which we all get to remind ourselves that this change will not happen without vigilance--that it is not just going to be this moment. It is going to have to be repeated moments in which we engage the consciousness of this Nation. So I do feel momentum here. We are hopeful we will be able to proceed to at least votes on these measures so we can show the American public where everybody is. If we don't win those votes, we will live to fight another day. But these are galvanizing moments, and it is heartwarming to know that there are so many colleagues who have stepped up to the plate to take part.”