The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy - Bill Adler [8]
I remember a speech by Justice Bill Douglas when I was in law school. A student asked him what the most important export of the United States is. He said, without hesitation, “The First Amendment.” The reason why is obvious. It gives life to the very concept of our democracy. It protects the freedoms of all Americans, including the right to criticize their government.
—Statement of support
for the Reporter Shield Bill,
July 20, 2005
If we set the precedent of limiting the First Amendment, in order to protect the sensibilities of those who are offended by flag burning, what will we say the next time someone is offended by some other minority view, or by some other person’s exercise of the freedom the Constitution is supposed to protect?
—Letter to a constituent, 1997
As a nation we have no hereditary institutions, and a minimum of ceremonial schools. The Constitution itself is our national symbol—the symbol of our identity, our continuity, and also our diversity. It requires a mature people, mature in intelligence and political understanding, to respect that kind of abstract symbol, rather than the more tangible or human symbols of other nations.
—Speech, September 22, 1978
The checks and balances so vital to our democracy are what make our constitutional scheme the envy of the world and such a potent and enduring foundation for our democracy.
—Statement on Judicial Activism,
April 13, 2005
Civil rights is still the unfinished business of America, and we will not rest until we make Dr. King’s dream a reality. We will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like the waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
—Martin Luther King Day Speech,
Boston, January 17, 2000
The separation of church and state can sometimes be frustrating for women and men of religious faith. They may be tempted to misuse government in order to impose a value which they cannot persuade others to accept. But once we succumb to that temptation, we step onto a slippery slope where everyone’s freedom is at risk.
—Speech at Liberty University,
October 3, 1983
We need more effective safeguards to ensure that every American can fully exercise his constitutional right to privacy. We must protect Americans against the compiling of inaccurate or unverified data and the unrestricted use and dissemination of such data.
—Speech, June 12, 1974
A federal program is not the solution to every problem. But there continues to be an important federal role in solving the problems of our society by investing in people and the infrastructure needed for our country to succeed and our citizens to thrive. To believe otherwise is hostile to the basic values of our country and to the historic concept of “We the People” in our Constitution. We must not rob the people of the resource of government. It is their government and we must make it work for them.
—Speech, National Press Club,
Washington, DC, January 11, 1995
What we were, what we are, and what we shall be as a nation and as individuals are closely bound up with that single, simple phrase “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.”
—Speech, June 13, 1978
Diversity—e pluribus unum—“out of many, one,” is not just a slogan on our coins but the founding political principle of our nation. Too often in those years [of the Reagan and Bush presidencies] it was replaced by the politics of division, and progress was far more difficult than it should have been.
—Remarks on civil rights, October 22, 1993
We know that the struggle for equality is not over. Even with affirmative action, there are significant racial disparities in higher education between minority students and white students. Currently, African-Americans enroll in higher education at 85% the rate of white students. Latinos enroll in higher education at only 80% the rate of white students. As a country, we need to work to close that gap not—as the Administration now proposes