Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the nomination of Senator Sessions to be the next Attorney General. I believe one of the most important jobs of a U.S. Attorney General is to protect the people's right to vote. In the tumultuous days of the early 1960s, on a hot afternoon, I watched on a grainy black and white TV as Dr. King delivered his memorable ``I Have a Dream'' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His soaring, spiritually laced speech challenged us to commit our lives to ensuring that the promises of American democracy were available, not just for the privileged few but for ``all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.'' ``Now is the time,'' Dr. King urged, ``to make real the promises of democracy.'' He stressed that a central promise made to the citizens in a democracy is the right to vote and to have that vote counted. He said: ``We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.'' Half a century has passed, and our country has changed with the times, but one thing has not changed. The right to vote for ``all God's children'' in America is still under assault. Unbelievably, we are not so very far from the problems of 1963. Despite the passage of time and landmark civil and voting rights legislation, five decades later there is still considerable voter suppression in this country.…”