Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise tonight to speak about the issue that has been consuming a lot of our time, and appropriately so, not only tonight but for many weeks, since some of the tragedies of this summer, starting in early August and continuing but also an issue that has occupied the time of the American people over the course of not just weeks or months but years and even decades now. I thank our colleague from Connecticut, Senator Murphy, for organizing this time to bring Members of the Senate together. I thank my colleague from Ohio, Senator Brown, the senior Senator, for his words tonight, his passion about this issue, and his commitment to change. That should be a commitment that is shared by everyone here, but we will be talking about what has not happened here tonight as much as what has happened. When I think about this issue, the issue of gun violence, which is an epidemic, it is also uniquely an American problem. No other country has this problem. In fact, America didn't have this problem for all of its history. Depending on where you start the clock, it is years old, if not a lot longer than that. When I think about the issue and think about the debates we are having, sometimes we start with the names of communities, and we, unfortunately, have them memorized. So many communities are known for so much--so much that is positive about their culture, about their history, and about their future, and the dynamism of some of our great communities.…”