Political Quotes

“Madam President, it was just about 10 days ago that a tornado struck Harrisburg, IL. This is a picture of some of the devastation. It doesn't tell the story. I have been a child of Illinois and grew up in what we consider to be Tornado Alley. Being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night with the air raid siren blaring and my dad heading down into the basement was just one of the rites of passage. Luckily, our home was never hit, but we saw a lot of homes that were. They might have some shingles torn off and siding ripped away, windows broken, and maybe in the worst case a roof actually lifted off a house. This case here was an extraordinary one. The picture can't even depict the story. It was a level 4 tornado--and level 5 is the highest--with 175 mile-an-hour winds, or winds more powerful than Hurricane Katrina, and it hit this little town of Harrisburg, IL, and about 20 miles away the town of Ridgway, IL. I went down and took a look. I saw homes that had been torn off their slab foundations and tossed around like toys. Seven people died as a result of this tornado. There might have been more, but it was a tornado that struck at about 5 a.m., and many people were home. Had they been outside or shopping at one of the malls that were obliterated, many more people would have died. Fortunately, more didn't. The heroic efforts by the local people at every single level really made me proud to represent that State and my family having roots in that part of the State.…”