Political Quotes

“Let me wrap up this colloquy this morning by thanking each one of my colleagues for their comments. Governors are practical people. We have to be. We have no choice. If jobs are going to be created in our States, we must lead that effort-- not by jawboning and indicting the business community but by creating the atmosphere that creates those jobs. If we are going to have a balanced budget, we must lead that effort at the State level. Every Governor who has had an opportunity to speak this morning in this colloquy has made that point. At the end of the day, when our legislative sessions were over, we had to be able to tell the people of our great States that we passed the budget; that the budget was, in fact, balanced; and, for some of us, that we did not borrow any money whatsoever to get that job done. We could learn something in Washington from that. This is not a radical idea. All the rhetoric we have heard about what a radical, crazy idea this is--well, how can it be so radical if 49 out of 50 States have decided this is the right course and the right direction for their State governments? I can't imagine the American people want anything less for their Federal Government. And, as Senator Risch has just pointed out, why would we not give the American people the opportunity to cast their vote on how best to manage their government--their government? With that, I yield the floor, and I note the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tester).…”