Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the importance of a free press and its role since the founding of our Nation in protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans. I was on the Senate floor on July 12 talking about a recent tragedy-- a mass shooting at the Annapolis-based Capital Gazette. A man who had a longstanding grudge against the newspaper for accurately reporting news about him shot his way into the newsroom and killed five good people. These five men and women died doing their jobs--reporting the news and supporting a publication that is an important part of their community. One victim in particular, Wendi Winters, fought back and worked to distract the gunman in such a way that those who bore witness to her bravery described her actions in this way: Wendi died protecting her friends, but also in defense of her newsroom from a murderous assault. Wendi died protecting the freedom of the press. Wendi died protecting the freedom of the press. We think of violence against reporters as something that happens in other countries, in war zones and the like, but not here in the United States of America. All around the world, reporters work to gather facts, ask questions, and report the news in the spirit of the free, open, and transparent societies and governments that all people deserve. Too often, reporters are harassed, jailed, and even killed simply because of the nature of their work, which often exposes cronyism and corruption.…”