“In my six decades in public service, I’ve seen many changes..,Yet the most profound change...is also the saddest. It is the complete collapse in respect for virtually every institution of government and an unprecedented cynicism about the nobility of public service itself.”
“155 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and less than two years after our first African American president left office, racism still remains a part of our national life...let’s imagine the American system we might have if the better angels of our nature were to prevail.”
“because of an 18th-century political deal, those 20 states have 40 senators, while California has just two. These sparsely populated, usually conservative states can block legislation supported by a majority of the American people. That’s just plain crazy.”
“efforts are often stymied simply because it is understood that even should a good bill make it through the hyper-partisan House, it will die a quiet death in the Senate because of the disproportionate influence of small states.”

“With my own eyes, I’ve watched in horror and increasing anger as that imbalance in power (Senate) has become the primary cause of our national legislative paralysis.”
“The Electoral College has the same structural flaw...Twice in the past 18 years, we’ve seen the loser of the popular vote become president through the Electoral College..which gives...disproportionate weight to small states...two automatic votes for its two senators.”
“How do we fix this? Practically speaking, it will be very difficult, given the specific constitutional protection granted these small states to veto any threat to their outsize influence.
There is a solution: Abolish the Senate. At a minimum, combine the two chambers into one.”
“My age bears with it a responsibility to share what I’ve witnessed so that future generations avoid making the same mistakes. My advice always begins with the truth —why would-be despots and demagogues try so hard to discredit it. They hate it like the devil hates holy water.”
“The conduct and outcome of the 2016 presidential election have put the future of our country in mortal peril...I never believed that day would come...we now find ourselves on the precipice of a great cliff.
It’s up to you, my dear friends” @JohnDingell
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