Political Quotes

“Mr. President, my grandparents and my mother and her two siblings immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in the year 1911. They came over on a ship from Germany to Baltimore and found their way to the city of my birth, East St. Louis, IL. There are very few things left from that voyage experience so long ago. My grandmother had brought with her a Lithuanian Catholic prayer book that was considered, at the time, to be contraband in Czarist Russia. It is a family treasure. I still have it. I keep it in my office as a reminder of her faith and mine. Today, I join people across the world and mourn the passing of Pope Francis. He was forgiving, hopeful, and committed to the notion of peace. Francis taught us that there is no one ``right'' way to be a Catholic; that the church can shape you, and you can shape the church, and in the process, he made the church stronger. Ten years ago, Pope Francis became the first Pope to deliver a joint address to Congress. I was honored to be present for that historic speech and to shake his hand. The Holy Father spoke in that speech about one of my political heroes, Abraham Lincoln. And Pope Francis reminded Members of Congress that: You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics.…”