Political Quotes

On the recordOctober 25, 2020
Mr. President, two powerful phrases we often hear in America: one is ``We the People,'' another is ``equal justice under law.'' ``We the People,'' the first three words of the Constitution, written in supersized script so that everyone could have no doubt that that is what that Constitution--our Constitution--was all about. You can see those words from across the room. They echo so often, how can we possibly forget the soul of our Constitution is, as President Lincoln described, ``of, by, and for the people''--``of, by, and for the people.'' That second phrase, ``equal justice under law''--a phrase so important to our system that it is carved above the doors of the Supreme Court. Just the across the hallway here from the Chamber in which I now stand, the Senate Chamber, you can go into the Johnson Room. It served, when Johnson was the majority leader of this Chamber, as his office. And you look out the window, you can see the Supreme Court Building with that phrase carved into it: ``Equal Justice Under Law''--two powerful phrases that, taken together, lay out the foundation for our democratic Republic.…
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Jeff Merkley
Democratic · Oregon

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