Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I appreciate my colleague, the Senator from Connecticut, yielding for a question. I am proud to join so many Members of the Senate. I want to echo the comments of the Senator from Missouri, her comments about getting the same kind of calls, notes, and questions. I want to acknowledge as well that there have been Members of the House from Virginia and Louisiana who have come to show solidarity in the effort being led so eloquently from mostly the Senator from Connecticut and the Senator from New Jersey. I think we are all trying to wrap our heads around the fact that a single lone gunman was able to extinguish the lives of 49 Americans in a gay nightclub in Orlando. Before we get to this legislation, I think we also have to acknowledge that this was a crime of hate--a crime of hate that unfortunately targeted the Latino community and in particular the LGBT community. And as the LGBT community grieves nationwide, we need to make clear that the long fight for equality includes not only marriage equality but equal protection in terms of public safety and living in safety. The Senator from Connecticut has made some comments about the number of deaths that take place in our country each year from gun violence-- 30,000 a year. I think about, just as the Senator from Connecticut acknowledged in the aftermath of Newtown how I rethought some of my positions on some of these issues.…”