Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, Maria and Fred Wright traveled to Washington to mark the 1-month anniversary of the murder of their son in Orlando. They wrote a beautiful op-ed: While in D.C., we don't want just thoughts or prayers from Members of Congress. We want them to look us in the eyes and tell us: How will they work to make our Nation safer against gun violence? How will they perform their constitutional duty to ``insure domestic tranquility'' and ``promote the general welfare''--some of the main roles of government according to our Constitution? How will they work to stand up to the extremist gun lobby and urge their fellow Members to do the same? Unfortunately, for Maria and Fred Wright, and for all of us, they would have to run really fast to look into the eyes of Congress as our colleagues fled down the stairs to run out for a 7-week vacation and to do nothing. Their son, Jerry, is one of 33,000 Americans who will lose their life to gun violence every year in this country. We urged our colleagues to bring to the floor something, do something in the face of this carnage. And we stay here as Democrats. The cameras can't stay in the room. The Republican side of the room is empty. They are gone. They are home with their family and friends. Maria and Fred will never get to be with their son Jerry. They didn't do anything to protect us from gun violence, to protect us from the dangers of Zika, to protect us from lead poisoning.…”