Political Quotes

“I rise today to remember the horrifying terrorist attacks that took away so many innocent lives 5 years ago. As a rule, tragedies of the magnitude we saw on 9/11 do not have silver linings. On that day, we were left only with an aching sense of loss, a sadness that seemed endless, and a bitter rage toward those who had brought chaos to our doorstep. And yet it is undeniable that amidst one of the worst moments in our history, an ordinary goodness emerged in America. You could see it in the rescue workers and firefighters who rushed toward the rubble, in the scores of young people who signed up to serve their country, and in the quiet candlelight vigils held by millions of people for those they had never met and never would. In our politics, too, there was a brief moment where it seemed as though the crass partisanship of the nineties would give way to a unity of purpose among Republicans and Democrats that would refocus our efforts on attacking the terrorists, not each other. We saw this in the immediate support given to President Bush, in the near unanimous vote to go after the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan, and in the formation of an independent, bipartisan commission that would tell us how and where to strengthen our homeland security. Five years after 9/11, the days of that unity are long gone.…”