Senate Proceeding on Sep 9th, 2009 :: 1:02:25 to 1:05:10
Total video length: 2 hours 24 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:19 Duration: 0:02:45 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

1:02:21 to 1:02:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: whatever you do you're going to do well. we are a proud of you you for your great contributions to our country. mr. graham: mr. president, this is the time in a person's crier a supposed to lay it on thick. but there's really need to do that in mel's case. i think everybody here speak on both sides of the aisle are

1:02:25 to 1:05:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Lindsey Graham

1:02:43 to 1:03:03( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: trying to say thank you for your friendship. and there's a million ways to say it and to kitty, thank you for being part of our lives here and we're going to continue this relationship. i think all of us have got stories about mel. i first heard about mel by reputation. he was a republican trial lawyer. that intrigued me. there are not many of us.

1:03:04 to 1:03:24( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: we can meet in a phone booth. i got to know him during his campaign and go some events for him. i think that experience of representing people really made him a good senator. he understands there are two sides to every story. sometimes a person need the best advocate they can get even though their cause may not be so popular at the moment.

1:03:25 to 1:03:45( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: but i really the g.a.o. to know mel during the immigration debate. that's a hell of way to meet somebody. you'll lerner really quickly about a person when you talk about politics at that level, that emotional. and mel was going to be part of that debate whether he wanted to or not because of who he was. i mean, you just could not talk about imand not think about mel martinez.

1:03:46 to 1:04:06( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: but he was the first one to show up and he was the last one to leave. and we'll get that bill passed one day and it will be a tribute to medical and senator kennedy that -- the guts of that bill will be the solution that will be embraced down the road. but that was tough politics. we would reminisce at night. you know saxby was involved and

1:04:07 to 1:04:27( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: meet every morning in the president's room with senator kennedy and mccain and try to figure out where we're out based on and what the night before. usually we lost ground, but we kept plugging. but a lot of stories was told about what was going on in mel's life. there was a lot of hatred out there, quite frankly. there should be a lot of people

1:04:28 to 1:04:49( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: upset about the immigtion system not working and broken borders and legitimately concerned, but there are some people who were quite hateful. i think that mel took the brunt of that more than anybody else. it didn't get a lot of publicity, but i know what he an kitty went through to try to fix

1:04:50 to 1:05:10( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: a broken immigration system. i will be forever grateful for thr efforts. it was personally very difficult. when mel left a repressive place, he came to a hopeful country and during that debate he never lost sight of what america was really all about. america will never be defined by the people who hate. america will be defined by the