Political Quotes

“Well, Mr. President, I respect the response from my colleague, but when we consider just what constitutes a gift, I think we have to recognize that if we travel to a charitable event to raise money for a worthwhile cause, there is some merit to that. On the other hand, if we go to a political event in Los Angeles and get our transportation paid for and get our lodging paid for, that is meritorious, too, from a political point of view. But we are talking about a great inconsistency here in this legislation that is proposed by my colleagues on the other side. We are talking about cleansing the process, the process of accepting gifts. But they do not want to touch the area that is sacrosanct, and that is specifically political contributions and the way that money is raised. Money is raised by travel to legitimate political events. And reimbursement occurs not only for the Member but, very often, for the spouse as well. And so I hope that those watching this among the American public, as they reflect on the merits of this debate on gifts, recognize the inconsistency that is proposed here. If my friends on the other side were suggesting that we do away with gifts, period, do away with gifts associated with charitable events, we do away with gifts that are associated with political events from a standpoint of travel and a standpoint of lodging, then there would be consistency. But clearly, that is not the intention because there is a lot of money raised in this process.”