Political Quotes

“I rise today as a Senator and, as the Presiding Officer is, a doctor. I want to talk about a disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Earlier today Senator Rubio was on the floor talking about the disease, and I know earlier today Senator Wicker was on the floor talking about the disease. It is a topic that is, as an orthopedic surgeon, very personal to me. I was introduced to Duchenne more than 30 years ago and, as an orthopedic surgery resident, worked at a muscle disease clinic with young people with muscle disease. One of those muscle diseases is called Duchenne. It is a disease that affects young boys. I met patients and I met their families in the fight against this disease. The experience has left a lasting lifelong impression on me, and it is something I continue to work with today. I think the reasons we have gone into medicine are to help people and to make a contribution. One of the reasons I chose orthopedic surgery was that I really enjoyed seeing the relief--the care that I gave could help people, causing relief of their symptoms, relief of their pain, relief of problems they were living with from day to day. It is extremely rewarding to be able to work with a patient and tell that patient the surgery you performed was successful, and they are going to get better. They are going to get back to normal. As a doctor, I was able to see patients go on to graduate from college, get married, have children of their own.…”