Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by John Fetterman - Page 2

You can't lock away a problem and throw away the key. I don't know if it's an unpopular view or a popular view, but it's the truth.

The truth doesn't need a label. It's the truth.

In PA, the Lieutenant Governor serves as the Chair of the Board of Pardons. That means that I sit as the head of our five-person board, where we hear testimony and process applications for pardons and sentence commutation.

What we need to do is fundamentally shift the justice system by bringing redemption to the forefront and making sure that second chances are possible in this country.

I mean, there's certainly unreachable people in either party that will never vote Democrat or Republican. That's a fact.

We've made some incredible progress, but there are still steps we need to take to ensure LGBT Americans are treated as equal citizens.

I'm proud that, in my first year as Lieutenant Governor, we recommended commutation for 19 people serving life without parole sentences and sent them to the Governor's desk to sign - the most since the early 90s.

I will never tweet out anything that Twitter has to slap a warning on like a pack of cigarettes.

Whether it's leaders from my own town of Braddock or leaders across the state in Bucks County or Adams County, I'm committed to always working with and listening to local elected leaders.

On my left arm, I have the zip code 15104. That's Braddock, Pennsylvania, my home and the community I was honored to serve as mayor for 15 years.

If we start treating addiction as a public health issue, with more compassion, and without the criminal element, our society will be better off and violence and public safety will improve as a result. We'll also be taking a big step in taking down the prison-industrial complex that disproportionately harms communities of color.

We can't let ourselves stop believing in Second Chances for everyone. That's why my role on the Board of Pardons is so important to me.

You know, all work has dignity. I fundamentally believe that. So all paychecks must have dignity.

We should transition away from carbon-based fuels, but that is not something that you can just flip a switch metaphorically, no pun intended, and start immediately like banning fracking. It's a transition.

One of the things I believe in most strongly is the power of a second chance.

In my years in public service, I have advocated for reforms to our unforgiving and vindictive legal system.

We're all created equal, and we all deserve an equal shot.

Universal background checks and closing existing loopholes can prevent prohibited purchasers, such as convicted felons, the dangerously mentally ill and domestic abusers from accessing guns.

I'm proud that my family and I live across the street from a steel mill and a union hall. This is where my wife and I want to raise our family, not in a mansion.

We need to get people excited about living in Braddock again. For D.I.Y.-ers, this town is a dream.

When I first ran for mayor in 2005, I made a pledge to confront the epidemic of gun violence in Braddock.

I never said I could save Braddock. It's not about me. It was never even just about Braddock. It was a metaphor. Places like this matter.

The grip of the NRA is so suffocating in Washington that politicians are too afraid of the gun lobby to pass even the most sensible reforms, like universal background checks.

I believe that one bad decision should not define a person.

Pennsylvania, like every other state in our society, has to begin to adopt and refine the idea of mercy and redemption for our criminal populations.

I know I am not Braddock's savior, never felt that way, and never will. There's no 'Rudy' style ending waiting for me where I get carried off the field and everything turns out O.K. for me or for Braddock.

I'm not really a big fan of the idea that getting elected to public office means you get to live lavishly on the taxpayer's dime, in some mansion away from the people you represent.

You can't live in a town like Braddock and not know exactly what gunfire sounds like.

I am so proud to be the Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania - a storied steel town I like to say built half the world.

It's ludicrous that someone can be fired from their job, refused care at a hospital or denied housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

It's not a radical statement: all of us should agree that we want to make sure that weapons stay out of the hands of people that could use them to hurt others, especially after the tragedies we've seen in Charleston, Newtown, Wilkinsburg and too many other communities.

The Black Lives Matter movement has brought to the national conversation many of the inequalities I've worked to confront here in Braddock. I'm so grateful it has because we need to realize that as far as the way America treats African-Americans, black lives don't matter in this country.

For a lot of people, most of their exposure to politics and politicians involves events on the campaign trail, interviews on cable news, or seeing a viral tweet here or there. But day to day, there's so much more than anyone sees.

In fact, I've been around guns for most of my life.

The people of Pennsylvania don't owe me a mansion with a chef and a gardener.

We use art to combat the dark side of capitalism.

I don't mean to look scary, it's just kind of what I have to work with. Maybe that's why my tattoos are literally the first thing people Google about me.

Back in 1995, I quit my job and joined AmeriCorps at the Hill House in Pittsburgh's legendary Hill District.

I decided that I wanted to spend my career fighting inequality rather than making myself more comfortable.