Political Quotes

“I rise today to discuss a topic far too many of my colleagues have also had to face--yet another fatal mass shooting in their State. This time it was in Annapolis, MD, in our State capital. Exactly 2 weeks ago, on June 28, at about 2:30 p.m., a 38-year-old man who had a longstanding spurious grudge against the Capital Gazette newspaper made good on his sworn threats. He entered the newspaper offices, headed to the newsroom, and by the time he was done, he had shot and killed five employees of this community newspaper. The Capital Gazette is the local paper of record in Annapolis. It is one of the oldest, continuously published newspapers in the United States. It traces its roots back to the Maryland Gazette, which began publishing in 1727, and to the Capital, which was founded in 1884. This loss of life is personal to so many in Annapolis and around our State. You need to understand that the Capital Gazette is as much a part of the fabric of Annapolis as the State government it covers. It is perhaps embodied in Thomas Jefferson's famous quote: ``Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.'' Just 2 weeks ago, a man with a shotgun--a man who had made known his threats against this paper--purposefully entered the building which houses the Capital Gazette and killed people.…”