Senator Warren gave her maiden speech to the Senate earlier today. Huffington Post has the full transcript, which is well worth reading in full. It’s a very moving speech, in my opinion.

A few excerpts:

I rise with a heart heavy with mourning, but I also rise with the gratitude of a fearless people – gratitude for the nation’s prayers, strength, and resolve.

[…]

To all the families who lost their children; to all those who were injured and wear the scars of tragedy; to all the citizen-heroes, the first responders, the healers, who acted with courage in the midst of chaos; to all those who bore witness at Boylston Street; and to the people of Boston and of Massachusetts: No one can replace what we have lost. No one can relieve the weight of our sorrow.

But here today, and in the days and weeks ahead, wherever we are, we will grieve together, hurt together, and pray together.

[…]

In ancient times, the heroes of myth and legend were part-mortal, part-God, for it was thought that no mortal man or woman could be truly great.

This week, the people of Boston and the people of this country proved the ancients wrong. Our heroes are our friends and our neighbors, they work in Copley and at Children’s, and when they were called to act – they answered.

[…]

Our city, our Commonwealth, and our country have been through a grim ordeal. We have seen terror before. But we will not be afraid, and we will not let it change us. Bostonians are tough. We are fighters – and we will not be broken.

[…]

In times of calamity, in times like these, we remember the words of John Winthrop, who counseled the founders of Boston: “to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. … We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together…. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.”