Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this has been a very emotional debate. I am sorry for some of what has been said, because a few minutes ago, as I was watching the debate, I heard one of our colleagues come to the floor and utter some despicable racial slurs and names in defense of his own policy. I think that that really does not help us here, and I do not think we ought to debate these kinds of things with the kind of hate and venom that I have heard from some people. I have also noticed that one group that has not been mentioned very much in the course of the debate is the American middle class, who ends up, regardless of what we do, having to pay the bills, and is quite concerned about the direction in which their country is going, too. They have to pay the bills for whatever we decide to do in this regard, and they do so in many cases by working 40, 50, 60 hours a week, sometimes two members of the family working hard to eke out a living for themselves and their children, and hope a little bit about the future. What they also are concerned about, Mr. Chairman, is the fact that the law does not seem to mean much anymore. Most of them, whether they be black or white, whether they be Hispanic or oriental, regardless of race, creed, or color, work every day and do so in a way that obeys the law.”