Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to one of California's own, President Ronald Reagan. It has been nearly 7 years since President Reagan passed away, but he is still fondly remembered by so many in California, across this country and across the globe. The first time I met President Reagan was right after I was elected to Congress in 1982. I was invited to the White House as part of a large Democratic freshman class, and I wondered how President Reagan would greet us. After all, he had campaigned hard for a Republican Congress. When we arrived at the White House, he and First Lady Nancy Reagan could not have been more warm and gracious to us. I still have the photo from that evening hanging in my home office. Ronald Reagan showed all of us that you can disagree without being disagreeable, and that even if you have sharply different views on some issues, you can still work to find common ground. President Reagan once said: ``I've always believed that a lot of the troubles of the world would disappear if we were talking to each other instead of about each other.'' He believed if we were all respectful to each other, we could find those areas of agreement. We could get things done. That was an important lesson for me and for all of us that evening because, in the Senate, with the rules of the Senate, the only way to get things done for our constituents and for our country is by working together.…”