Political Quotes

“yesterday I mentioned to the Senate that I had been reading a book by Caroline Kennedy called ``A Patriot's Handbook.'' I have been looking at the book. It was given to my wife for Mother's Day a number of years ago. I mentioned yesterday that I read about one of John McCain's experiences in a Vietnam prison camp. It will take me just a minute and a half or so to read this, but this is what I paraphrased yesterday that I will read today. It is ``The Mike Christian Story'' by Senator John McCain in his book ``Faith of Our Fathers.'' Mike was a Navy Bombardier-navigator who had been shot down in 1967, about 6 months before I arrived. He had grown up near Selma, Alabama. His family was poor. He had not worn shoes until he was 13 years old. Character was their wealth. They were good, righteous people, and they raised Mike to be hardworking and loyal. He was 17 when he enlisted in the Navy. As a young sailor, he showed promise as a leader and impressed his superiors enough to be offered a commission. What packages we were allowed to receive from our families often contained handkerchiefs, scarves, and other clothing items. For some time, Mike had been taking little scraps of red and white cloth, and with a needle he had fashioned from a piece of bamboo he laboriously sewed an American flag into the inside of his prisoner's shirt. Every afternoon, before we ate our soup, we would hang Mike's flag on the wall of our cell and together recite the Pledge of Allegiance.…”