Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I quote: He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. That is the language of the Declaration of Independence. One of the grievances against King George III, in the immortal words of Thomas Jefferson, was limitations on immigration: ``Endeavoring to prevent the population of these States.'' That was an original formulation, an original idea at the heart of the United States. Looked at in the context of our history, this debate we are having this week is somewhat disappointing but not surprising. It is serious in its particulars, but it is amazing in its totality. Here we have a roomful of descendants of immigrants arguing about the conditions of immigration. Sure, most of our ancestors in this room entered the country legally, but that was because there were virtually no laws about immigration for the majority of our history. For most of our history, if a person could pay the cost, a person could enter the country. That is the fundamental premise of America. What are we afraid of? Are we afraid of people with courage, people with imagination, people with initiative, people with perseverance? Before coming to this body, I taught at Bowdoin College in Maine a course on leaders and leadership and we attempted to define the qualities of leadership.…”