Political Quotes

“Madam Clerk, I rise to nominate Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House. Madam Clerk, there has been a lot of talk about history over the last few days. 1856 was the last time it took longer than 9 votes to find a Speaker of the House. It took 133 votes over 2 months. Without question, the issues that divide us today are much less severe than they were in 1856. In fact, there is far more that unites us than divides us, regardless of our political party or ideology. The issues today are over a few rules and personalities, while the issues at that time were about slavery and whether the value of a man who looks like me was 60 percent or 100 percent of a human being. It was a long, drawn-out, painful process, but it needed to happen. In the end, Nathaniel Banks won by the slimmest of margins. But the margins don't matter when your policies are on the right side of history. On that day, long ago, the good guys won. On that day, long ago, the abolitionists won. On that day, the people who believed in freedom and self-determination won. The leading Republican nominee won then, and the leading Republican nominee will win again today. Since then, our Nation has made a lot of progress. That includes families like mine. My family has gone from slave to the floor of the United States House of Representatives, being the first Member of his freshman class to speak. In a series of five generations, my family has gone from slave to right here since 1856.…”