Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I listened carefully to my colleagues on the other side, and I want to make sure people really understand what this debate is all about. This debate is about background checks. It is about mental health. It is not about taking away constitutional rights. I am struck--and I know the distinguished Presiding Officer has taken part in a lot of these debates as well--that whenever there is a discussion about guns in the U.S. Senate, Senators get up and say: We shouldn't be debating guns, we ought to be debating mental health. That is what we are talking about today--mental health and background checks. The fact is, we can go into townhall meetings in any part of America and hear extraordinary support for the whole idea of background checks. Background checks are right at the heart of this morning's debate and supporting background checks is not some extreme far-out position to hold. In fact, opposing background checks is the view that is way out of the mainstream of American political thought. A recent poll found that 92 percent of gun owners supported expanded background checks. Let me just repeat that 92 percent of gun owners in America support expanded background checks. As the courts continue to interpret the language of the Second Amendment, one matter has been made clear: background checks are a constitutional part of the exercise of those rights.…”