Political Quotes

“Mr. President, one of the best things about a good day in the Senate is when we get a chance to visit with friends from home. Earlier today, I had a chance to visit with the Hopkins family. They run a small business in Delaware. And I have had the great joy of spending time with our U.S. Congressman, John Carney, our incoming speaker of the house, Pete Schwarzkopf, and friend Quin Johnson today. All of this has brought to mind something I wanted to speak to for a moment, if I might. I rise today to mark the 376th anniversary of a great American institution that is critical to our safety here and abroad--the National Guard. The National Guard goes back to the citizen soldier tradition of our colonial-era militia of citizens who took up arms or who came together for collective action in times of natural disaster or of threat. The National Guard today, 376 years later, still has that dual mission--to serve our communities by responding to domestic emergencies and to deploy, when needed, to serve and protect our Nation overseas. While they do all this, they also often hold down full-time civilian jobs. In their daily lives, National Guard troops are teachers and police officers, firefighters and office workers. When called upon by their Governor or Commander in Chief, they change their uniforms and report for duty as civilian soldiers.…”