Political Quotes

“I rise today to ask that my colleagues join me in supporting a Children's Memorial Flag Project and establishing a National Children's Memorial Day to remember all of the children who die by violence in our country. As I speak today, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Littleton, Colorado, community and the families of the students and faculty members who were tragically murdered yesterday. Not only during January, when we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, should we discuss and teach nonviolence. Demonstrating and teaching our children that violence is wrong should be a part of our daily lives. Each day in the United States five infants and children die from abuse and neglect and seven teens are murdered. In fact, more children lose their lives to criminal violence in the United States than in any of the 26 industrialized nations of the world. Many would be shocked at these statistics. The Children's Memorial Flag Project was created to raise awareness about the violence towards children in our country and to organize community and national prevention strategies. It is with pride that I say that this project was originated in 1996 in the district which I represent, the 9th Congressional District of California. In the past 5 years alone we have lost more than 140 children in Alameda County to preventable violence. Each time a child is killed, we fly the Children's Memorial Flag at half-staff.”