Political Quotes

“I entered the Senate in the wake of Watergate in 1975, a time when the American people's faith in our institutions was profoundly shaken. The very first vote I cast was in favor of creating the Select Committee to Study Government Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans-- that is, the Church Committee. Through that Committee's work, the American public soon learned of years of abuses that had occurred at the hands of the executive branch's intelligence agencies. In response, the Senate passed sweeping reforms to rein in this overreach. In many ways, this represented the best of the Senate: we came together across party lines to thoroughly investigate, and ultimately curb, gross executive branch abuses. The Senate has never been perfect. And much has changed in the 45 years I have served in this body. Yet today we face a similar test: whether the Senate, in the face of egregious misconduct directed by the President himself, will rise again to serve as the check on executive abuses our Founders intended us to be. But today, and throughout this ``trial,'' we are failing this test and witnessing the very worst of the modern Senate. After being confronted with overwhelming evidence of a brazen abuse of executive power, and an equally brazen attempt to keep that scheme hidden from Congress and the American people, the Senate is poised to look the other way. To simply move on.…”