Political Responsibilities
Page 6
- After Florida State, [we’re at] 90 school shootings since Sandy Hook. Newsflash to my colleagues – this isn’t normal. Do something.
- I’ve lived in Washington for nearly 50 years, so I have met all the presidents, many senators, many congress people, and many governors. And I always said the best politician - at the height of his political life - was Marion Barry.
- The science of climate change is unforgiving, no matter what the deniers may say. Sea levels are rising, ice caps are melting, storms, droughts and wildfires are wreaking havoc.
- Whatever your views are on EITs (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques), our nation and in particular this agency did a lot of things right during this difficult time to keep this country strong and secure.
- If the ways that we’re approaching the Republicans in Congress [aren’t] working, I’m going to try different things -- whether it’s having a drink with Mitch McConnell or letting John Boehner beat me again at golf, or weekly press conferences - I don’t know if that would be effective…Whatever I think might make a difference in this, I’m going to be trying out up until my last day in office.
- [Sandy Hook] was the one that was supposed to make a difference. It wasn't a high school. The victims were 20 first graders, 6-year-olds, along with six staff members. But the numbers indicate nothing much has changed. Sandy Hook turned out to be not a call to action, but a gruesome standard from which all inaction can be judged.
- Sandy Hook turned out to be not a call to action, but a gruesome standard from which all inaction can be judged.
- There’s a prevailing idea that there’s something ethically wrong with being poor, and that America’s run according to Christian values. But when people are practicing genuine Christian values, they themselves are directly prosecuted…Let’s bear in mind that America just had midterm elections where $4 billion was spent on campaigning — [campaigning] is just telling you that something’s good. But feeding the homeless? That’s illegal.
- To those Members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill.
- Throughout my childhood, I watched my parents try to become legal but to no avail. They lost their money to people they believed to be attorneys, but who ultimately never helped. That meant my childhood was haunted by the fear that they would be deported. If I didn't see anyone when I walked in the door after school, I panicked. And then one day, my fears were realized.
- In the middle of a crisis, pulling Dr. Frieden away from the work he needs to do so Congress members could all make their little press statements -- it was shameful.
- I would rather die than be in the United States Senate. I would be bored to death. Could you imagine me, banging around that chamber with 99 other people, asking for a motion on the amendment in the subcommittee? Forget it…You'd watch me just walk out and walk right into the Potomac River and drown. That would be it.