Political Quotes

“I come to the floor this evening with a very sad heart to speak about one of our colleagues here in the Senate who gave tremendous service to his country and sadly passed away last night. Senator Frank Lautenberg was a true American. He earned a lot throughout his lifetime, but he came here to the Senate floor to fight for all of those people who didn't have the ability to fight for themselves. He was here in the Senate with us just a few weeks ago even though he himself was battling an extremely difficult illness. I think of Frank Lautenberg as a man of tremendous determination, an awful lot of grit, and someone who really embodies the term ``happy warrior.'' He wanted to be here to fight for those who didn't have what he did. Throughout his career, that is exactly what he did. Frank lived the American dream. He was the son of poor immigrants, and he rose to become a chief executive of a business that employed thousands of people around the world. He personally did very well, but he was never satisfied with just his own personal success. He understood, as so many other great Americans, that his success was based on the opportunities this country afforded him. So he chose over three decades to give back and to fight for people to make sure they had the opportunities he had. He started his career in the Senate back in 1982. As many of us who served with him know, he decided to retire, but he was not happy in retirement.…”