Political Quotes

“Madam President, this is a tough issue. It is a tough issue because good people don't agree. Good people don't see the issue the same way. But we cannot lose sight of the fact that so many of the reforms we will be voting on to guarantee a safe haven, to guarantee a safe experience, a common camaraderie, are all parts of a big plan for change. What we are debating today is one small portion of that--not small in the sense of impact. We need to make sure we reward all of the great work the committee has done, the great work that has been done with the leadership of Senator McCaskill from the great State of Missouri, and the commitment that this body is making today, in a very unified way, to change the outcome. I will spend a moment with that in mind to talk about how I came to my decision to support the Gillibrand amendment. I wish to first talk about my experience. I am probably one of the few people in this body who has actually sat across a table as somebody who had the power to make the decision on whether we were going to, in fact, pursue a prosecution and have that discussion. I know that is a shared experience I have with Senator McCaskill, and those are experiences we will never forget--the damage that is done so often when people are victims of sexual assault, beyond other kinds and other forms of physical assault, the power and the responsibility. So I recognize the great need we have to deal with this issue.…”