Political Quotes

“I have been so impressed by the large number of Senators who have come to the floor to tell their stories of why public education is so personal and important to them and to their constituents. I want to thank all of the staff who were here all night long--our clerks, pages, people in the cloakrooms--everyone who has given time of their own to be here to support us to be able to talk about this critical important nomination, the Secretary of Education. I think all of my colleagues will agree with me that there has been an unprecedented outpouring of concern from across the country about this Cabinet nominee. Why is that? Why is it that the Secretary of Education has brought such emotion and discussion to this country? For a very important reason: Education is a critical part of everyone's life. The Founders of this country knew that when they determined we in this country were going to have a free public education system. Why? Because they want to make sure that every citizen had the opportunity to read and write and participate in this democracy, a core principle to assure that all of us would have a voice in who our President and elected officials were so we would understand and be educated and make the right decisions. That core principle is so important to this country and has allowed us for centuries to be the kind of country where we have a middle class.…”