Political Quotes

“Madam President, I come to talk about a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Although I don't serve on the committee of jurisdiction, I will tell some stories today that will demonstrate to you about why I feel so strongly about this nominee and so strongly about this position. I want to start with my dad's story. My dad grew up on a small family farm outside the town of Barney, ND, not that you would know where that is. When he became an eighth grader--when he graduated with an eighth- grade education, he wanted to go to high school in Wyndmere, but as was the custom at the time, the oldest son was expected to stay on the farm and not get an education beyond the eighth grade and help support the family. That is not unusual. There is probably a number of people in this body whose parents have a similar experience, but this story really came home to me when my dad was diagnosed with melanoma. Unfortunately, with part of that disease, the cancer moved to his brain and something remarkable happened for all of us, and that was that he would relive parts of his life. He would believe--as the cancer took over his brain, that part would activate his memory, and he would be doing things like calling bingo in the middle of the night during this time when he was in hospice care. It would alarm us, and maybe sometimes even amuse us, but he would truly believe he was calling bingo at the Mandan VFW Hall.…”