Political Quotes

“I thank my friend for yielding, and I thank the ranking Republican for his comments. I thank Mr. Cohen for his leadership on this issue. ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'' So spoke our Founding Fathers. Our Founding Fathers spoke, however, without a clear understanding of the impact of their words. Even as great as our Founding Fathers were, they did not live out the promise of those words in this land. Some were slave owners. Clearly, the contradiction between our words and the actions of our day-to-day lives were a contradiction from our stated values to our practices. Martin Luther King, Jr., called America's attention to that paradox, to that contradiction, to that schizophrenic life that we had led. Martin Luther King, Jr., had a lieutenant who was a giant of a leader in his own right, and we are honored to serve with him; in my view, the most historic figure that serves among the 535 of us who have been given the privilege to represent our people and defend the Constitution and protect and preserve our democracy. John Lewis is a giant among us; a quiet, self-effacing, humble giant, but a giant nonetheless. Forty-five years ago, civil rights activists attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery to demand that their Governor honor their right to vote and their God-given equality.…”