Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I see my two colleagues from Connecticut on the Senate floor. I know they are here to speak about the horrible tragedy in Newtown last Friday. I will abbreviate my remarks on the floor, and I commend both of them for extraordinary statements last night at a memorial service. I will never forget some of the things they shared with us about this terrible tragedy. I come to the floor this morning for a few moments to pay tribute to one of my great friends and one of my great colleagues, Danny Inouye, who passed away yesterday. The majority leader has done such an extraordinary job recounting his life, and I think back to what it must have meant to him as he witnessed Pearl Harbor at the age of 20. He said that he realized at the time that the pilots in those planes that were bombing his family and others in Hawaii were people of the same ancestry as his father, and it hurt him. It hurt him as well to be branded as suspect because of his Japanese origin and to see literally tens of thousands of Japanese Americans interned in camps because their loyalty was questioned. He took the opportunity to volunteer and serve our Nation to prove his loyalty and that he was willing to risk his life for America. He served in one of the most highly decorated units in all of World War II, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was comprised of Japanese Americans who fought in the European theater. They recently came to Washington to be honored.…”