Political Quotes

“Those of us who oppose the constitutional amendment concerning flag protests understand that the political pressure for this amendment is strong, but our hope is that the Senate will in the end heed the wisdom of John Glenn, when he urged us to reject the amendment: There is only one way to weaken the fabric of our country, and it is not through a few misguided souls burning our flag. It is by retreating from the principles that the flag stands for. And that will do more damage to the fabric of our nation than 1,000 torched flags could ever do. . . . History and future generations will judge us harshly, as they should, if we permit those who would defile our flag to hoodwink us into also defiling our Constitution. We should not adopt a proposal that will whittle away at the first amendment for the first time in our history. We act here as stewards of the Constitution, guardians and trustees of a precious legacy. The truly precious part of that legacy does not lie in outward things--in monuments or statues or flags. All that those tangible things can do is remind us of what is precious--our liberty. Our Constitution guards our freedoms and the first amendment is the marble of our democracy; it is the bedrock of our rights and constitutional protections. It guarantees the freedom of religion--the freedom to practice a religion or not to practice a religion, as you believe. It guarantees our freedom of speech. By doing that, it guarantees diversity.…”