Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise in support of the Gillibrand amendment. I am proud to support Senator Gillibrand's concerted effort to deal with the problem of sexual assault in our military. I want to begin by commending her persistent leadership in forging a bipartisan coalition to tackle this serious problem. I supported the Gillibrand amendment in committee, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of the amendment here on the floor of the Senate. I rise today to share my reasons for supporting it and to encourage my colleagues to continue to come together in support of this amendment. Everyone in this body wants to support the men and women of our military. In the course of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on sexual assault, we heard testimony after testimony after testimony about the persistent problem of sexual assault in the military. I found myself persuaded by the arguments that Senator Gillibrand raised in defense of her amendments. Indeed, when I said at the hearing that I had been persuaded by the arguments, I have to tell you, afterwards a reporter from a newspaper came up to me astonished, and asked, in wonderment: Were you really persuaded by arguments at a hearing? I thought everyone came in with their views already set in stone, and nothing that was said here made a difference. I chuckled and said: Well, the arguments Senator Gillibrand put forth I found powerful in terms of how do we deal with a serious problem.…”