Political Quotes

“let me explain what that very rapidly read unanimous consent order provides for. Senator Dorgan and I chair the policy committees of the Democratic and Republican sides and have agreed that every month or so we should have a debate which is really a debate, rather than just a bunch of speeches read, which frequently characterizes what passes for debate here on the Senate floor. Our constituents might tune in and see us reading speeches and wonder whether we have a debate on a specific issue where we mix it up together, respond to each other's points, and have that all relative to a very specific question. So we agreed we would do that; we would try to pick a topic that was not really current: that we would have different Members on each side engage in these debates when they were held. And we agreed that the first debate topic would be on the general subject of Social Security. As a result, tonight we have the first of these debates with two Members from the Republican side and two Members from the Democratic side debating a general topic relating to Social Security.”