Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act. It is heartbreaking to stand here today, just days after 10 innocent lives were taken in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store by a gunman espousing white supremacist views and hatred toward African Americans. This devastating massacre took me back to June 17, 2015, when another white supremacist gunned down nine parishioners at Charleston's historic Emanuel AME Church. In the intervening years, we have witnessed far too many other acts of domestic terrorism: from a counterprotest in Charlottesville, Virginia; to a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; to a Walmart in El Paso, Texas; to a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin; and to an Asian-owned nail salon in Atlanta, Georgia. All told, over 200 mass shootings this year. To be sure, all of these shootings have not been racially motivated or motivated by hate, but all of them share one thing in common: They have been committed in a country too tolerant of irresponsible regulations of weapons of war and a proliferation of firearms of mass destruction. This legislation is long overdue. It would enable the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI to prevent, investigate, and prosecute cases of domestic terrorism more effectively. I, and many others in this body, know what it is to experience acts of racial hatred and witness events of domestic terrorism.…”