Political Quotes

“It is a somber time to come into this Chamber as we have colleagues at the other end of the building who formed something they call the Common Sense Coalition, which is, I think, a gentle euphemism like so many things in this town are, which might well be called the ``kick the can down the road'' coalition, the ``doing the same thing again and again and again and again and expecting a different result'' coalition, or the ``those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it'' coalition. The photo that is to my left and to your right if you are viewing at home is of me at a ceremony at Red Hill Farm in the Fifth District of Virginia, where a man named Patrick Henry lived. Patrick Henry is notable as an early patriot who sought to ensure the blessings of self-determination and liberty for a fledgling nation that determined that it was unjust that they should be governed by edict from across the sea and most notably said the words: ``I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.'' Indeed, anyone who signed the Declaration of Independence understood at that time that they were literally signing their own death warrant, yet they did because it was the right thing to do. Today we have degenerated into a political class that knows pandering and efforts to placate individuals without the interests of the mass constituency that we all unitedly serve, and that is the American people.…”