Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for hosting our hour tonight, Congressman Donald Payne, who, like the old adage, is ``a chip off the old block.'' His father was an outstanding Congressman from the district who did a lot for Africa, did a lot for urban cities. I see that Congressman Payne, although in his second term, has taken up the banner and is following in his father's footsteps quite adequately. Tonight we are talking about the missing Black male. The good news and the bad news is that I found him, and we know where they are. They are incarcerated in prisons, they are in cemeteries, and they are in unemployment lines. We know where they are not. They are not in the homes, and they are not providing leadership and mentoring to our young African American male children. The question tonight, I think, why we are here and why we are talking about it is, if you can't talk about the problem and you can't identify it, then you will never get to a solution. I come from an area and I was raised by parents who always told me that you can achieve anything you want to achieve. They gave me the nurturing and the support and the push up when I needed it, and they gave me the swift kick in the rump when I needed that, also. That is where we are. I had prepared remarks, and I will defer to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) on how he wants to go.…”