Political Quotes

“a few days after the mass shooting in Orlando, I received a very powerful letter from Ella Staats, a young Vermonter who, like Americans across our land, was sickened and horrified by this senseless act of hatred that we saw in Orlando. What was pointed out to me in this letter, this eloquent, passionate heartfelt letter, is that Ella is 15 years old. In her letter addressed to me, under the auspices of the Young Writers Project, she explained that even at her age, she has ``already seen so many mass shootings that it is becoming harder and harder to faze [her].'' Ella calls on Congress to act, writing: ``It is time that the gun laws in our country were completely reformed'' so these violent and hateful acts will be prevented. After I read and reread her eloquent letter, I was moved. I sat down in my home in Vermont, and I started to draft a response, going through all the votes I had taken over the years. I started looking up all the hearings I had convened on gun violence, all the bills I authored and cosponsored, those I moved through the Judiciary Committee and even on the Senate floor, but then I stopped--this was just a catalogue. I decided the nature and the quality and the moving aspect of Ella's letter deserved a response on the Senate floor because Ella has given voice to something urgent that many people in Vermont and across the country are feeling right now. Here is my reply to Ella: Dear Ella, thank you for your thoughtful letter.…”