Political Quotes

“with all due respect to the majority leader, this was an unnecessary vote today. The majority leader said: What is a filibuster? I can remember one that wasn't called a filibuster. I can remember when President Bush the first nominated a very noncontroversial University of Tennessee president who had been Governor to be the Secretary of Education of the United States about 20 years ago. There was a Democratic Senate at the time, and the Senator from Ohio decided he wanted more time to study the qualifications of the nominee from Tennessee. I was that nominee. I thought that was an extraordinary period of time. It was 87 days between the time President Bush announced my nomination and the time the Senate unanimously confirmed me. That was a Cabinet position. I went around to see Senator Warren Rudman to see what I should do. He said: You don't have any cards. You don't do anything. The Senate has the right to consider, with its constitutional prerogative of advice and consent, the nominees of the President. That is what the Senate is there for. I said: Warren, how did you get to be a Senator? He said: Well, I will tell you a story. President Ford nominated me in 1976 to be on--I believe it was the Federal Communications Commission. The Senator from New Hampshire, a Democratic Senator and a Democratic Senate, put a hold on Warren Rudman until Warren Rudman withdrew his nomination.…”