Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to address the nomination of Solicitor General Kagan to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier this week, I discussed my opposition to the nomination, but at that time I didn't go into any depth about my concerns with regard to her participation in the military recruiting policy that banned the U.S. military from the Office of Career Services at Harvard Law School. While this incident has been discussed a lot, I think it is very important to establish for the record exactly what happened. I believe a due respect for the men and women of our military and the gravity of this debate demand a full review of the facts behind what Elena Kagan did as dean of the Harvard Law School to exclude and stigmatize the U.S. military. Harvard Law School adopted an antidiscrimination policy in 1979. This policy states that any employer that wished to use the Office of Career Services at the law school had to sign a statement affirming that it does not discriminate on various bases, including sexual orientation. The military--not just because of its policy but because of the policy of the Congress and the law that we passed--could not sign this statement because of the don't ask, don't tell policy adopted during the Clinton administration.…”