Political Quotes

“I just want to talk for a brief bit of time on the Interior appropriations bill and on some matters that are very important to people throughout this country, particularly in the West. But let me begin by making a comment about what the Senator from North Dakota has just said. In fact, he has said that he is going to threaten to bring the business of the Senate to a halt unless he gets his way, and what he wants to do is have a debate on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. There are a lot of important things facing this country. But to quote from the President of the United States, who very recently gave a talk about putting first things first, it seems to me that most of the American people would like to put first things first, and that would include matters such as the continuation of the running of the Government for the next year which would require us to pass appropriations bills to fund the various Departments of the Government, not the least of which is the Department of the Interior which is what we are going to be talking about next. There will be plenty of time to debate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. But in terms of the priority of this country, I think our colleagues need to understand that treaty can't even go into effect until 100 percent of the major countries of the world sign it. There are many countries that haven't signed it. It is going to be years before that treaty goes into effect.”