Political Quotes

“Mr. President, a number of comments have been made about Ms. Elena Kagan's actions at Harvard in barring the military from utilizing or having access to the Career Services Office and asking the veterans group--that was not able, as they said--to somehow fill that role. I will take a few minutes, as we have a few minutes left, to deal with one of the arguments I have heard my colleagues repeat; that, well, she did not reduce recruiting, therefore, no harm, no foul. I do not agree. There was a foul and there was a harm. But even if there had not been a harm, there was a foul. It was very wrong to blame the U.S. military for the don't ask, don't tell policy, and very, very, very wrong to blame some young officer who was there to recruit people to serve in the JAG Corps of the U.S. military, perhaps having just returned from combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, and to be told: You can't come in the front door of the building. You can't use the recruiting services because we don't like your policy. But it was not the military's policy; it was the Congress's policy. It was President Clinton's policy. He signed the bill. I do not believe that Ms. Kagan complained to President Clinton when she was on his staff for 5 years and he signed the bill. Was there any protest to him? No. Her protest was lodged, and the discrimination was directed against the men and women in uniform who defend our country, who had nothing to do with the policy.…”