I think the convention is off to a wonderful start.

I think the most overused words in our vocabulary in the South are black and white.

But the larger point that I've made is that we've done 25 years without a black Alabamian being appointed to the federal bench,

As long as there are places in the state where poverty falls unevenly, we are still trying to build a perfect union, ... One day, there will not be a curtain between the Black Belt and the non-Black Belt.

Our displaced citizens should have the same rights as our soldiers and for that matter, our college students, to participate in their states elections while they are temporarily away from home, ... This bill would allow evacuees to assert by affidavit that they intend to return to Louisiana or Mississippi and vote in the 2006 and 2008 federal elections by absentee ballot.

Obviously, our most pressing need is subsistence for the most vulnerable victims of Katrina, but we should not overlook the fact that the victims of Katrina also include middle-class Americans who have saved and invested, but now face an economic crisis, ... They should be able to tap into their savings and meet this crisis without facing an unfair penalty.