Political Quotes

“I rise briefly to just draw my colleagues' attention to two items that, although seemingly unconnected, happened last week that I think are deeply connected. On Inauguration Day, January 20, President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border of the United States. I just want to read two sentences from that declaration, January 20, 2025: Hundreds of thousands of Americans have tragically died from drug overdoses because of the illicit narcotics that have flowed across the southern border. I think 100 people in this Chamber would acknowledge that to be true. The second sentence in the same order: As Commander in Chief, I have no more solemn duty than to protect the American people. I think 100 people in this Chamber would agree that is the most solemn duty of the Commander in Chief. Those two sentences are why I was so surprised at an action the President took the next day, January 21, 2025: the pardon of drug kingpin Ross Ulbricht. I want to read a summary of the crimes for which Mr. Ulbricht was imprisoned and raise the question of why the President, who had expressed concern about drug running and said that his top goal was to protect the American people, would choose to do this on the second day of his Presidency. Mr. Ulbricht launched Silk Road in 2011 and turned it into one of the most popular outposts of the so-called Dark Web, a hidden corner of the internet that people can access only through a special browser.…”