Robert Torricelli: “I rise to address the Senate for the first time as a Member of this proud institution, and, indeed, it is an important…”

“I rise to address the Senate for the first time as a Member of this proud institution, and, indeed, it is an important moment in my life and that of my family. Although I stand where I know preceding generations have often become legends, I also stand tall because I am standing here today on the shoulders of genuine giants--a tailor and his seamstress wife who walked from their native village in Italy for a boat to New York, a German steelworker who settled his young family in my native New Jersey. Mr. President, a journey of generations brings me to this moment. I understand that I may be bound to some Members of this Senate by little more than a single common thread. Many families are more powerful, and most biographies are genuinely more compelling. But Providence has chosen what we share this moment to help define the future of our people and the Republic that they have chosen to serve them. The burden of leadership may be greater on some generations, and perhaps it has been less on others. The only certainty for our time is that it is different.”