The Week in Quotes (March 8 – 14)

Here are some of the week’s most notable quotes culled from news reports from across Texas, and beyond.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden in his testimony at the Senate Space Subcommittee. The chairman, Sen. Ted Cruz, doesn’t want NASA to study climate change, and claims that NASA has “lost its full focus.”

We can’t go anywhere if the Kennedy Space Center goes underwater and we don’t know it. It is absolutely critical that we understand Earth’s environment because this is the only place we have to live.

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Family Research Council President Tony Perkins at a Senate subcommittee hearing on international religious freedom comparing the Supreme Court’s contraception coverage case to religious persecution in the Middle East.

The lack of priority on religious freedom that we have placed here domestically in our policies does send a message internationally. I think there is a correlation between…the growing intolerance toward religious freedom here at home, i.e. in the marketplace, is giving rise to persecution abroad.

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A memo from the Texas Association of Business. TAB’s lack of support was a primary reason behind Rep. Villalba dropping his support for House Joint Resolution 55, known by many as the “License to Discriminate” bill.

A constitutional amendment that allows people to use religion to discriminate and harm others would give Texas a reputation for being judgmental and unwelcoming, creating an environment that is hostile to business and economic development.

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Senator Ted Cruz remarking on his proposal for a constitutional amendment to give states control over same-sex marriage bans.

If the courts were following the Constitution, we shouldn’t need a new amendment [to allow states to ban same-sex marriages], but they are, as you put it quite rightly, making it up right now and it’s a real danger to our liberty.

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Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and billionaire entrepreneur, pledging his support for the Texas Wins campaign, aimed at ending LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

I’m glad to see Texas Wins taking up the charge here and making a pro-business case to end discrimination in the Lone Star State. I have little tolerance for discrimination in my businesses, nor do a majority of Fortune 500 companies. Texas is a beacon for business and should follow corporate America’s lead on this one.

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