William Redmond: “I appreciate that. But I think the bottom line, we need to recognize that this is not about land. This is about the…”

“I appreciate that. But I think the bottom line, we need to recognize that this is not about land. This is about the integrity of the institution of the government of the United States that stands forward and very boldly says that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. In this case, the Federal Government did not stand up to the plate and bat on behalf of the citizens of the Territory of New Mexico and the citizens of the State of New Mexico. And so this is not about land, this is about the integrity of our institution, of a free, democratic-republican form of government, a representative form of government where people have their voice heard. The voices of these people have been silenced for almost 150 years. I am determined to in this institution let their voices ring all the way from New Mexico to this institution. We will not rest until justice is done. This issue is about who we are as an American people, because many people sitting across the Nation, say from Washington State down to Florida and New York, Chicago, they might say that this does not deal with me. I am here to tell you that it does deal with you, because if the Federal Government at one point in the history of our great Nation can violate the right of private property for a minority of people, if it has been done once, that sets the precedent for this government to do it again.”