Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for having this critical conversation today. Just outside this Chamber, on January 20, 1961, a new young President by the name of John F. Kennedy said, ``We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.'' We would pay any price, bear any burden, and meet any hardship to ensure the survival and success of liberty. What has happened to America that we shrink from our traditional role of standing up against tyrants, dictators, and genocidal maniacs in favor of liberty? What has happened to us? Why did Kennedy say those words? He didn't say those words because he wanted to replicate the pain and tragedy of the world war in which he had distinguished himself as a war hero. He didn't say those words because he wanted young Americans to die in East Asia or around the globe in the service of liberty. He said those words because he understood what he had learned in the 1930s and the 1940s, which is that brutal dictators don't stop; they are stopped. They are stopped by those with the moral fortitude and courage to stop them. If we accede to where half of the Republican majority is today, which is that we are not going to support Ukraine in this fight, Putin will not stop. Soon, the United States will have no choice but to step in to stop Vladimir Putin. We hear these excuses: There is not enough accounting. There is not enough oversight.…”