Political Quotes

“I thank my colleagues tonight, and I thank Senator Whitehouse for his work on this. You know, the question that is facing, I think, all of us and is troubling Americans is an erosion of confidence in our institutions. We are seeing that with a lot of erosion of confidence in the legislature, which is here to serve the interests of the people we all represent. It is also sometimes with the Executive--huge battles there. And, of course, January 6 was an indication that the norms that have guided us throughout our history--that is, the peaceful transfer of power after the people of this country make a decision about who shall be their elected leader--have all been challenged. And now we have the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has an incredibly important role in the preservation of our democracy because it has the capacity to make decisions about legislative actions and whether what the legislature did fits within the parameters of the Constitution, and it is an awesome responsibility. As my colleagues have said, I have an enormous amount of reverence for the institution of the judiciary, and I have an enormous amount of reverence for the particular role of the U.S. Supreme Court. I have immense respect for the individuals who have achieved that status of being a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. They serve an important institution. They have a very important job. But they are not more important, as individuals, than any other American. They are not.…”