Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise to mourn the passing of a great man, a great leader, a proud New Jerseyan, and my friend, Congressman Donald Payne. I am saddened beyond words by his death. Personally, I have lost a close friend and the people of New Jersey have lost a tireless voice, a true advocate who spent a lifetime fighting for fairness, for justice, and for the little guy. Wherever there was injustice, intolerance or suffering, wherever someone was downtrodden by the more powerful and didn't have a fair chance, Donald Payne was there intervening. From his earliest days in Congress, he focused on New Jersey, but his influence was profoundly felt around the world. As a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, Donald Payne followed his passion to restore democracy and human rights in places where the suffering was greatest. If we asked him what his greatest accomplishment was--and there were many--he would tell us it was working on global health issues, cofounding the Malaria Caucus that he launched with First Lady Laura Bush, securing $50 million to fight drug-resistant tuberculosis, and $50 billion for HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria that literally--and I have heard these stories--literally saved whole villages in Sub-Saharan Africa, because that is the kind of man he was.…”