Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. When I was informed of the Justice's death, it came across my electronic devices. I texted my wife back home, and I said: I just want to cry. I had the extraordinary privilege of getting to know the Justice on a more personal basis. In western Nebraska there is a large outcropping. It is called Chimney Rock. Chimney Rock was the place that marks the halfway point across America. When the settlers crossed the great country, when they got to Chimney Rock, they knew that they were halfway along their journey. In the shadow of that rock, just this last December, I was in a duck blind with Justice Scalia who, as we all know, had that as an avocation. When you spend a couple of days in a duck blind with somebody, it is a bonding experience. You get to know them more personally. In my own reflections about what Chimney Rock meant to the country, a bridge between the past and the future, I thought it appropriately captured the character, the nature, the wisdom of the great Justice. He was a great student of American history, our legal system, a great protector of the Constitution and precedents. He understood how important it was to act in a consistent manner with principle while looking forward and applying that principle in ever-changing circumstances of American life. Because he did so with continuity and with consistency, he was a man of great integrity. His inner voice matched his outer voice.…”