Sen. Chris Murphy: ‘We Are in Charge of Trying to Set Rules and Laws and Norms that Give People a Better Shot at Happiness’

EXCERPT:

REPORTER: “Why should lawmakers, governors, elected officials put happiness first and foremost, when they're thinking about policy?”
MURPHY: “Well, it's right there in the Declaration of Independence that human beings, Americans, have a right to pursue happiness. Now, government can't deliver the last mile of happiness, right, that's up to everybody individually to figure out, but I think we are in charge of trying to set rules and laws and norms that give people a better shot at happiness. If you get beyond the fights over abortion, or immigration, or guns, even, you might be able to find a lot more common agreement between the right and the left on the things that are actually most directly relevant to how people find happiness, connection, connection into neighbors, into family, into the common good.”