Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this is a fateful moment in our Nation's history and in the history of this Chamber. Once again, we have been awakened to the reality that we have mortal enemies. They do not desire compromise. They are not interested in negotiation. Our suffering does not give them human pause. Indeed, they celebrated. They do not seek our mere defeat. They are intent on our destruction. The demonic horror of these deliberate attacks remains inconceivable, but we have no choice except to accept that it is real nonetheless. Our enemies' message was stark and inescapable. They will make war on all of us wherever we exist for as long as we exist. The orchestrators would not have ordered these actions if they did not believe that they themselves would survive, that they would celebrate in triumph. I fear they have judged our failure to render justice for their past atrocities as weakness and as an invitation to even greater assaults. We must correct this misperception, not with words but with acts. No creed which revels in the slaughter of innocents can be included in the human community. No cause which aligns itself with evil can be allowed to exist among us. Toleration of such things not only invites our own destruction, it is a mortal sin. Those who hate us believe that a free people cannot defend themselves. They assure themselves that we will falter in the difficult task before us.”