Political Quotes

“The jarring violence of last week seared into our consciousness. It started in Portland, Oregon, with a mall shooting that might have been worse, and ended in Newton, Connecticut, where it's impossible to imagine that it could have been worse. It's part of an ongoing pattern of carnage because we lose one life to gun violence every 20 minutes every hour every day. The mass murderer's rampage gets the Nation's attention, but the same total loss of life at Sandy Hook happens more than twice every day all year long. This is personal for me not just because the mall shooter was in my district, but I had a high school friend who was killed with a random, freak drive-by shooting. My brother took his life with a handgun as a young man. I've supported gun safety provisions at the State and Federal level at every opportunity. It might be different now, not just because of the horrific images of parades of funerals for little children. I salute Mayor Bloomberg's unstinting advocacy for gun safety and mobilizing America's mayors who bear the brunt of gun violence. I welcome the President's leadership and will support any reform that he advances. But I would urge my colleagues to read the columns in the Sunday Times by my fellow Oregonian, Nick Kristof, and Ezra Klein's article in yesterday's Washington Post. They demonstrate we know what works. There are examples around the world.…”