Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank my friend. Let me put it to the body this way, through the Chair. This is also about sending a message to everyone in this country that we are serious about taking on this epidemic of gun violence, whether it is a terrorist attack or it is an attack by someone who is deeply mentally ill, such as the attack in Newtown, or the ordinary, everyday violence that is just epidemic in our cities. I think it is incredibly important for us to send a message that we are serious about this and, frankly, not worry about whether we have addressed every aspect of this debate and solved every problem at once--not allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good. I say that to my colleague, through the Chair, for two reasons. One is this notion I talked about earlier in which I really do worry that there is a quiet unintentional message of endorsement that is sent when we do nothing or all we do is talk. I believe that when there is not a collective condemnation of policy change from what is supposedly the world's greatest deliberative body, there are very quiet cues picked up by people who are contemplating the unthinkable in their minds. This isn't intentional. I am not accusing anybody of being intentional in their endorsement, but I think when we don't act, there is a quiet signal being sent to those whose minds are becoming unhinged and who are thinking about doing something truly horrific.…”