Political Quotes

“I compliment my colleagues from Maine and Georgia for engaging in perhaps the most substantive exchange I have ever witnessed in 13 years here in the Senate. (Applause.) Earlier this evening, one of my colleagues from across the aisle said: Why are we going down this road? And there have been similar questions: Why is this so important? Why is this bill so important? I will answer simply this: that dark money corrupts elections. If you and I donate more than $200 to a campaign, we record it, but if extraordinarily wealthy individuals donate hundreds of millions of dollars, they can do it with no attribution, corrupting the elections across this country. Gerrymandering corrupts the system of equal representation. From the earliest debates in this Chamber, it was recognized that each of us has a stake in the integrity of the elections in other States so that the people of the United States experience equal representation. We do not have equal representation in the House today, and the gerrymandering going on now will increase that corruption. Third and most importantly, the power to vote is the most significant right, guaranteeing each citizen a voice in the direction of our democracy. It is the soul of what it means to be a democratic republic. That power to vote is also the most important check in our system of checks and balances.…”