Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am going to be one of the first Senators to congratulate Dr. Yellen, now Secretary Yellen, to be Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. You saw it was a strong vote, and there is no doubt that she has the credentials, the experience, the qualifications to be Secretary of the Treasury--former Chairman of the Fed. I mean, her resume is off the charts. I know her nomination is historic for so many women across the country, including my three daughters. I am mentioning this because I certainly intended to vote for now-Secretary Yellen, and I was a ``no'' vote. I want to explain my ``no'' vote because I had a very good conversation with her just the other day. We covered a whole bunch of topics--everything from Alaska Native corporations to the strength of the dollar, to our debt and deficit--big macroeconomic issues that are important to the country, particularly as we are in a recession. It is important to my State. But we got to the topic of energy. We got to the topic of energy, and, reluctantly, I am saying this now because I was a bit shocked that despite a long, robust discussion, it was very difficult to get her, from my perspective, to commit to being a Secretary of the Treasury, the most important economic player in any Cabinet in any government--in the U.S. Government, besides, of course, the President--to commit to being a strong advocate for a robust, all-of-the-above energy sector for the U.S. economy. This is not a radical proposition.…”