Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this Monday, I was honored to stand before this Chamber and read George Washington's Farewell Address. This annual tradition invites Members of the Senate, as well as the American people, to pause and reflect on the wisdom of our first President. In this historic text, the father of our country lays out a unique view of the Nation he helped to create. It is a testament to the American spirit and a tribute to the American people that this country has come such a long way since the days of our ancestors. Washington's vision was especially poignant to me, having traced my personal ancestry back to the days of slavery. As I looked out over this Chamber on Monday, I thought about the reasons we celebrate each February as Black History Month. This year, as Black History Month draws to a close, I cannot help but reflect that Washington's address reminds us that Black history and American history are inseparable from one another; that the American story cannot be distilled into the Black experience and the White experience but that both are essential components of the American experience. The story of this country is a story of expanding equality and opportunity, of people and institutions grappling with social change and striving to live up to the promise of a single line in the Declaration of Independence which laid out the creed that came to define this Nation: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . . .…”