Political Quotes

“I rise to continue the discussion about ``We the People,'' those beautiful, first three words in our Constitution. My colleague from New Mexico has laid out the case that our Nation is far off track from our founding principles, and what is more ``founding'' than the very heart of our Constitution? Our authors of the Constitution wrote these initial words in supersize font so decades or centuries later we would realize this is what our form of government is all about. It was not about a small group of highly powerful individuals charting the course of our country. It was not about a small group of highly privileged individuals charting the course for our country that our Nation was to be very different. It is symbolized by ``We the People'' or as summarized by President Lincoln many years later, ``a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.'' We are at a time now where this core principle is being profoundly challenged. Let's think for a moment about how Thomas Jefferson laid this out. He said we can claim to be a republic only to the degree that our decisions reflect the will of the people and that we can claim to be a republic only to the degree that the individuals within that government have an equal voice, so there is there principle.…”