Political Quotes

“Madam President, this Saturday was Juneteenth, the first official Juneteenth recognized by the Federal Government as a national holiday--the official end of slavery in America. I commemorated and celebrated Juneteenth with my colleague Senator Van Hollen at a meeting of the NAACP chapter in Randallstown, MD, and we reflected on the progress that we have made since the end of slavery and the challenges that still remain. It has been a long path toward justice and equality in this country, and I think we all recognize the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with his famous quote that ``the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'' I think we all believe that, but in recent actions taken by State governments to restrict voting rights, we see some very disturbing trends that would take issue with Dr. King's statement that the moral universe is bending toward justice. It seems like it has taken a detour. Voting rights is a fundamental issue of importance to a democratic country. After elections are over and we win, we celebrate. We celebrate the fact that we have gotten the support of the majority of the voters, and that is what democracy is all about. If we don't win--and I think many of us have been involved in campaigns where our candidates have not been successful--we go to work to try to attract more voters in the next election so we can celebrate a victory. That is what participation in a free society is all about.…”