Political Quotes

“Madam President, it is an honor to join my colleagues of both parties, starting with Reverend Warnock and five--two other Democrats and three other Republicans on the floor today to read one of the great pieces of writing of the 20th century, Dr. King's letter from the Birmingham jail. I thank Senator Warnock and Senators Murkowski, Republican from Alaska; Toomey, Republican from Pennsylvania; Padilla, our new colleague from California, a Democrat; Senator Cortez Masto, in her fifth year in the Senate, a Democrat from the Presiding Officer's home State of Nevada; and Senator Cassidy from Louisiana, a Republican. They will be joining me today for this annual tradition. Our former colleague, Doug Jones from Alabama, began this reading 3 years ago. I joined him on the floor. He asked me last year after his election to carry on this tradition in the years ahead. I am honored to take that responsibility because Dr. King's words are as powerful, as beautiful, and as relevant as ever. One of many, many, many incisive things that Dr. King said was that we live in a 10-day world where people forget about public events 10 days later. Not so for him, not so for his words, and certainly not so from the letter from the Birmingham jail. Twelve years after Dr. King's assassination, when Cesar Chavez was thrown in jail, Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, said: You cannot keep truth in . . . jail. . . .…”