Political Quotes

“I appreciate the remembrances of D-Day from Senator Blunt, the distinguished senior Senator from Missouri. It is always memorable attending D-Day events. The first one I went to--and you just spoke of the distinguished Kansan, Dwight Eisenhower-- was with Robert Dole for the 40th anniversary. President Reagan asked the two of us to represent him in Italy when we first landed, while President Reagan went to Normandy. Subsequently, I went with a delegation with President Clinton and then with President George W. Bush, and, lastly, with President Obama. I found the experience overwhelming each time. Last year--it was actually on my birthday--Dick Shelby and I were there and laid a wreath in Normandy. Nobody can walk by there--first, seeing all the graves and realizing that they are only some of the remains--and then walking to the cliffs and looking down, and not wonder how anybody could have had the courage to face such withering fire. For some who survived, it seemed like the enemy was using a paint brush and just wiping people out. You would see them falling all around. A well-respected doctor from our home town in Montpelier had never talked about it. On the 50th anniversary we asked him if he would join us there. He is not a wealthy man. He treated a lot of the poor Italian immigrants for nothing. My mother was a first generation Italian American, and she always talked with him.…”