Members Of The United States Senate

"The Republican presidential candidate in 1964 also opposed the Civil Rights Act. Barry Goldwater had been an enthusiastic backer of the 1957 and 1960 civil rights acts, both overwhelmingly opposed by Democrats. He was a founding member of the Arizona chapter of the NAACP. He hired many blacks in his family business and pushed to desegregate the Arizona National Guard. He had a good-faith objection to some features of the 1964 act, which he regarded as unconstitutional. Goldwater was no racist. The same cannot be said of Fulbright, on whom Bill Clinton bestowed the Medal of Freedom. Fulbright was one of the 19 senators who signed the “Southern manifesto” defending segregation. Okay, but didn’t all the old segregationist senators leave the Democratic party and become Republicans after 1964? No, just one did: Strom Thurmond. The rest remained in the Democratic party — including former Klansman Robert Byrd, who became president pro tempore of the Senate."

"Hardly a day went by when I didn’t serve some of the most powerful people in the world. Men like Robert Byrd, Strom Thurmond, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Jesse Helms, Ted Kennedy, John Glenn and Bob Dole were with us on a regular basis."

"I have taught in South Carolina and lectured in the state numerous times. I have unfailingly been treated with courtesy and respect. Roof does not speak for all the white people in the state. Nonetheless, South Carolina has never really come to terms with its tortured history. Here are a few highlights of the state's extreme pro-slavery, white-supremacist past. In 1776, South Carolina delegates to the Continental Congress forced Thomas Jefferson to remove a clause condemning slavery from the Declaration of Independence. In 1787, South Carolinians were primarily responsible for the constitution's fugitive slave clause and provision allowing the importation of slaves from abroad to continue for twenty additional years. Until 1860, a tight-knit coterie of plantation owners controlled the state; they did not even allow the white citizens to vote in presidential elections, the legislature chose the state's members of the Electoral College. Before the Civil War, South Carolina was one of two states, along with Mississippi, where nearly a majority of white families owned slaves, and had the largest black majority in its population, nearly 60 percent in 1860. This combination produced a unique brand of extremism in defense of slavery. The state was the birthplace of nullification, the first to secede, and the site of the first shot of the Civil War. During Reconstruction, black Carolinians enjoyed a brief moment of civil equality and genuine political power, but this ended with a violent 'Redemption', followed by decades of Jim Crow. More recently, South Carolina led the southern walk-out from the 1948 Democratic National Convention to protest a civil-rights plank in the party's platform, and supported its native son, Strom Thurmond, who ran as the 'Dixiecrat' candidate for president."

"The flag that has caused so much trouble in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Battle Flag served as the flag for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia for the entire war, but it was never the flag adopted by the Confederacy. After the war, the United Confederate Veterans adopted the flag for its use, and it became the rebel flag, the Southern Cross, the Dixie Flag, or most commonly the Confederate flag. Most importantly, it was the flag of white supremacy. The Mississippi legislature put the Confederate Battle Flag on their state flag in 1894 after the white supremacists took over and rewrote the state's constitution in 1890. However, it became most popular after World War II when the Dixiecrat party under Strom Thurmond used it. The flag became a symbol of resistance to integration and equal rights. Georgia placed the Confederate Battle Flag on the state flag in 1956 to protest racial integration. John Coski argued that more people used the Confederate Battle Flag between World War II and the early 1970s than ever fought under it from 1861 to 1865. Today, the Confederate Battle Flag continues to serve as a marker of white supremacy movements in the United States and around the world. And I had it in my house along with the Stainless Banner and the Blood-Stained Banner for my entire childhood."

"Many southern politicians continued to use extreme language similar to Bilbo’s. Major southern figures such as James Eastland, Richard Russell, Strom Thurmond, and George Wallace played the race card and supported Jim Crow with all their energies well into the 1960s. But they usually avoided the kind of overt racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Italian remarks that Bilbo consistently expressed. Instead they employed code words; these legislators talked of the need to protect the South from “outside agitators” and the necessity of defending “state’s rights,” but rarely used the terms niggers or kikes."

"Even though she’s fresh and doesn’t have a record, I don’t know if she’ll be tough enough to beat Heller, I don’t think she’s ever really taken a punch. We don’t know if she has a glass jaw or not"

"Maybe we do need new people, who worked in business, people who aren’t tainted by Washington, to get in there and actually figure out ways to solve problems, I think people like Heller are in Washington for so long it becomes ‘What can I do to stay in office’ instead of ‘What can I do that supports the people in Nevada"

"She never met a person she didn’t know. She’s very outgoing, friendly, loves to connect people one to another. That just comes naturally"

"Whether it's churches, synagogues or mosques, our schools, our movie theaters, a concert on a nice fall night, people should feel safe and not feel under attack. And so I'm concerned by the rhetoric. We can disagree on policy, that doesn't mean we have to be disrespectful, and it doesn't mean we should be ramping up this divisiveness that's going on"

"I assured her from the beginning that she most certainly could, that she not only had the internal tools necessary to do the job, but that she had the personality, the characteristics that would make her an outstanding congresswoman"

"What he needs to do is be a real leader and stand up and have empathy and try to talk to people in a way that honors the loss of lives, the loss of their loved ones, their memories"

"Sen. Heller has been in public office around Nevada for nearly 30 years, so he’s been around Nevada, but it’s difficult to point to any legislation that’s passed with his name on it, he’s going to have to stand on his record, he’s going to have to shine a spotlight on what he’s been doing and what he stands for"

"It was so devastating to me as a Jewish woman, as an American, as a person of faith, somewhere that you think is a sanctuary and worship, you should feel safe there"

"Whatever issue I've ever had to discuss with her whether it is on legislation or party politics or even literally, like, child rearing, she's very upfront and she doesn't try to say something that sounds flowery. She just is very direct and gives you the truth and really gives good advice"

"From our perspective it’s branding and working to define her statewide that Rosen would go from a clone of Nancy Pelosi to a clone of Elizabeth Warren"

"For my generation, you would think you’d have to be on a particular trajectory to do something and then you would have to check those boxes off and once you were on a path you were kind of on a path, right"

"So for me, the people that I worked with, even though I worked with the majority of men in one area, and in tech support of the gas company, all men, you are respected because of your work … I mean, there’s still corporate politics and other things that all women deal with generally, but the guys that I worked with, you’re as good as your code"

"A man will say, ‘Oh, there’s that job, I’m going for it.’ A woman says, ‘Well, geez, maybe I need three more classes in college.’ Right? A woman is always worried that they’re not prepared enough and men just go for it"

"Every one of us, everyone who's running, everyone who cared, all of these stories, each and every one of us has a story that brought us here today, but it's our shared values and our shared commitment to social justice and social action and what's good and right and kind that brought us here to this point"

"If eliminating the filibuster is what it takes to get it done, then we must protect our democracy at all costs."

"If you’re working on membership and you’re talking to people who want to join or you’re working at the preschool, the religious school, people just start talking to you, good and bad, about what they think, what their desires are, what their hopes, what they’re worried about"

"The more life you live, the more experiences you have, and they do shape and inform you in really important ways. What you do for a career is one part of who you are, but it’s not all of who you are"

"It’s really hard to run for Senate. It’s a very important job and you have to be 100 percent sure that you know, in your heart, why you’re doing it, what it means to you, because that’s the only way you can really commit to the hard work that it takes"

"Tourism is important. It's a key economic driver for every state in this nation"

"I think it's not just an act of public health and safety, but really an act of kindness to the people that you love, our friends and our neighbors"

"There’s lots of kinds of experiences that people have in life, just because someone’s been in the political arena for a lot of years doesn’t give them the exclusive right to talk about people’s experience"

"We make the joke we’re like Noah’s Ark, you have to join two by two, so you get Republicans and Democrats to stay equal"

"To strengthen our capabilities in emerging technologies, we must invest in long-term workforce development and research."

"So we had two options in China. One, I think we can enter into another cold war, and we can slip into that very easily. In fact, I’m not sure we’re not in the early days of that right now. A cold war with an arms race. And if we sit here and think that we’re going to win the next arms race the way we won the last one – by not firing a bullet and by outspending our adversary – I personally, as a financial guy, I just don’t see that happening if it’s mano a mano. With 1.4 million people – billion people, and we’ve got 300 and something. That’s not the answer. And the answer is, even if that were the case what we’ve got to do is basically build our number-one asset. And that’s our allies around the world."

"There are basically two options. If you listen to what they say, China – they quote Confucius and they quote Sun Tzu all the time. I’m talking about the leader – the leadership now. Seven percent of the population of China are members of the Communist Party. And many of their leadership actually believes some of the propaganda that they put out today. But what they say – they quote Confucius a lot."

"But the way I look at the world: There’s state-controlled countries and there are self-determination countries. Now, there are different forms of self-determination. There’s social democracies, like France. There’s representative democracies, like ours. But in self-determination it’s pretty clear, it’s a monolithic model. And that is, a few people get power, and they dictate to the rest of the people what their – what life is going to be about."

"But if we cooperate from the standpoint of economic development of the world – think about this: There are 80 million people, refugees, today roaming the face of the Earth. Eighty million. We’re generating the next generation of terrorists around the world today. We’re doing that, the West is. And so by not addressing that issue collectively it’s going to overwhelm us."

"Our Founders got it right. They would remind us of that commitment and encourage us today to put our differences aside and work together to solve these sometimes overwhelming problems. Together, we can put our differences aside. Together, we can do the right thing. Together, we can create a new beginning."

"I think we’re called to pray for our country, for our leaders, and yes, even our president. In his role as president I think we should pray for Barack Obama. But I think we need to be very specific about how we pray. We should pray like Psalms 109:8 says. It says, “Let his days be few, and let another have his office.”"

"Like many Americans, I am outraged by Washington’s dysfunction, its fiscal irresponsibility, its lack of leadership in foreign policy, its intrusiveness and over reach, and its negative impact on hardworking Americans."

"I grew up in a small military town in Middle Georgia, working on our family’s farms. My mom and dad were public school teachers and I grew up modestly, like most people there. I worked my way through college and was blessed with a business career that took me from the factory floor to become a Fortune 500 CEO. My story is not unique. It is the American story. Only in America is this possible thanks to hard work and self-reliance. It’s called the American Dream and it’s our job to make sure it lasts. Many people today believe this dream no longer exists and that we need big government to provide us with more and more financial security. I disagree totally. I believe our best days lie ahead, but we have to act boldly if we are to save this dream and our very way of life."

"To create a new beginning, we must get back to our founding principles, articulated in our Constitution, that created this miracle called America in the first place: economic opportunity, fiscal responsibility, limited government, and individual liberty. When government grows larger, individual liberty declines. I believe that our Founders were committed to the concept of citizen legislators and could not perceive of the potential rise of career politicians."

"I need you to do one thing. Stand with me, stand with our President [ Donald Trump ], and let’s make damn sure that the road to socialism never runs through the state of Georgia. God bless you guys."

"We need to create a new beginning by dealing with the very real crisis of leadership we face today. It’s why I ran for the Senate in the first place because we need a new perspective in Washington."

"As an outsider to the political process, I am humbled by the privilege to serve my country as a U.S. Senator. I am sobered by the immense responsibility of representing the people of Georgia. And I am encouraged by the opportunities we have to solve this crisis of leadership and create a new beginning."

"The progressive policies of the past 100 years, and particularly the egregious policies of this current administration, have failed the very people they were intended to help: the working middle class. Instead, Washington has created a spiraling situation that will only take us deeper into debt. What’s worse, we have over $100 trillion in future unfunded liabilities related to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, federal pensions and interest on the federal debt."

"Now guys, I’m just a dumb business guy for right over that hill, right there, and I can tell you, that is a lie right out of the pit of hell."

"But the most insidious thing that Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden are trying to perpetrate, and Bernie and Elizabeth and Kamala, or what? Kamala or Kamala or Kamala mala mala, I don’t know. Whatever. They’re trying to perpetrate a lie, and that is that socialism, this radical socialism that they’re trying to sell us, is better than our beloved democracy. We’re not going to let that stand."

"To create a new beginning, it’s time for this eminent body, the United States Senate, to rise above partisan politics and do the right thing. It starts with leadership. It starts with making hard choices. It starts with telling the American people the unvarnished truth. It starts with no longer kicking the can down the road. It starts with having the courage to actually solve these problems, independent of how it might affect our re-election chances."

"Let us fight to find common ground to create a new beginning, for our country, for people back home who are struggling, and for the future of our children and our children’s children."

"Ideological liberals (and conservatives such as Professor Yoo and Judge Ho) have in recent years invented a novel and fabulous interpretation of this passage, maintaining that when Howard mentions that “foreigners, aliens” are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States he means to include only “families of ambassadors or foreign ministers.” If so, this would be an extraordinarily loose way of speaking: ambassadors and foreign ministers are foreigners and aliens, and thus their designation as such would be superfluous. .. If we give full weight to the commas after “foreigners” and after “aliens,” this would indicate a series which might be read in this way: “foreigners, aliens, families of ambassadors, foreign ministers,” are all separate classes of persons excluded from jurisdiction. Or it could be read in this way: “foreigners, aliens, [that is, those who belong to the] families of ambassadors or foreign ministers.” I suggest that the natural reading of the passage is the former, i.e., that the commas suggest a discrete listing of separate classes of persons excluded from jurisdiction. Of course, the debate was taken by shorthand reporters and not always checked by the speakers, so the issue cannot be settled simply on the basis of the placement of commas. .. In addition, Howard seemed to make a glaring omission—he failed to mention Indians as being excluded from the jurisdiction of the United States. He was forced to clarify his omission when challenged by Senator James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin, who queried whether the “Senator from Michigan does not intend by this amendment to include the Indians;” Doolittle thereupon proposed to add the language of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 “excluding Indians not taxed.” Howard vigorously opposed the amendment, remarking that “Indians born within the limits of the United States and who maintain their tribal relations, are not in the sense of this amendment, born subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. They are regarded, and always have been in our legislation and jurisprudence, as being quasi foreign nations.” .. In other words, the omission of Indians from the exceptions to the jurisdiction clause was intentional. Howard clearly regarded Indians as “foreigners, aliens” and thus not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. This conclusion was supported by Senator Lyman Trumbull who, as we will discuss below, also opposed Doolittle’s amendment. This is clear evidence against the claims of ideological liberals and others that Howard meant that foreigners and aliens included only the families of ambassadors and foreign ministers."

"The first amendment is to section one, declaring that "all persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein the teside." I do not propose to say anything on that subject except that the question of citizenship has been so fully discussed in this body as not to need any further elucidation, in my opinion. This amendment which I have offered is simply declaratory of what I regard as the law of the land already, that every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the government of the United States, but will include every other class of person. I am not yet prepared to pass a sweeping act of naturalization by which all the Indian savages, wild or tame, belonging to a tribal relation, are to become my fellow-citizens and go to the polls and vote with me."

"And what about Latin America? We can't expect the nations of this hemisphere to break their necks to help us in the event of another war if we continue to mistreat their cousins in our own country."

"I have been fighting for the so-called underprivileged all my days, because I was one of them. I was reared in that atmosphere, and I am proud of the chance I had in America under the government of the United States, and I want my fellow beings to have the same chance I had."

"Because I happen to have been rather fortunate, and when I go home I have a fairly good meal, or, at any rate, plenty to eat, it does not make me happy to reflect that possibly there are thousands and millions throughout the country who do not have anything to eat. Others may feel happy, others may be content when there are poor people in this country as a result of discrimination. I cannot be contented with such a condition. It is not American."