Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME)
Criticizes Senator Joe McCarthy
May 31, 1950

As a United States Senator I'm not proud of the way in which the Senate has been made a publicity platform for irresponsible sensationalism. I'm not proud of the reckless abandon with which unproved charges have been hurled from this side of the aisle. I'm not proud of the obviously staged, undignified, countercharges that have been attempted in retaliation from the other side of the aisle. As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy, instead of ourselves.