Political Quotes

“I often come to this floor to be able to speak about news of the day, disagreements that we have, ways that we can solve a problem we have as a nation. Today, I come to tell a story. In 1774, an Englishman met Benjamin Franklin. They spent a lot of time together in conversations, and Franklin convinced this young sailor and writer and young friend to move to America, to move to his hometown, to Philadelphia. A few months later, 1774, he did. Franklin saw something in this young man that no one else saw. That Englishman who loved freedom and who saw the glaring injustice of the British Crown, 2 years later, on January 10, 1776, wrote a short pamphlet that changed the course of history. The man's name was Thomas Paine, and the short work that he wrote was called ``Common Sense.'' It was the first publication that declared we should call for independence for these 13 Colonies. It didn't include his name because if it included his name, it would have been a certain death warrant from the King, but it made the case for freedom for each person, for an elected government rather than a monarchy, and the case for religious liberty. In short, he made the case for the United States of America. He wrote these words: The cause of America is, in great measure, the cause of all mankind.…”