Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to talk a little bit about what is going on here on the Senate floor. We were just considering the nomination of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, trying to move him along--a very important job--and it has taken some time. As a matter of fact, it has taken a long time, as the Presiding Officer knows, to get nominees from the White House confirmed by this body to run the government. Running the government is a very important job. We not only need Cabinet Secretaries--which, by the way, took months for this body to confirm. They slowed down the confirmation of the choices of the White House to run the Federal agencies--no real explanation why--and now, Under Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Federal judges--delay, delay, delay, delay. We are supposed to be trying to put people in place to run the government, which is the job of the Senate, but it has taken a very long time to do it, and it shouldn't be this way. It shouldn't be this way. When we look at U.S. history, typically, enabling a President to fill the key positions of government has not been a partisan issue. An election happens. Yes, there could be some debate on Cabinet officials, but you typically want to fill the government and start running the government on behalf of the American people. It has not been a partisan issue in America.…”