Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, let me just note that today I am paying close attention to the healthcare issue. I don't want anybody to think when they look at me giving this speech on the floor of the House that this is evidence that there is arm-twisting going on here in the Capitol about trying to get people's vote on the healthcare issue. No, it is just humorous. This is a shoulder replacement. I had this one replaced, actually, 4 or 5 months ago, and it is doing fine now. This one was a week ago. The cause of this, of course, has been excessive surfing. When I was older, I should have understood that you cannot surf as much as you can when you are younger without eliminating the cartilage that is there, then the cartilage is gone, and the bones grind on each other. Well, that is just one example, however, of a healthcare issue that is going to be with us much more frequently now as the population of this country is growing older. The older people get, there will be other infirmities that really were not suffered on such a scale when we died off at a younger age. So what we need to do is to make sure that we set down policies and a system that will provide the American people with the greatest and the most effective care that is possible within the budget that we have to deal with. Today I thought I would talk about that, of course--health care. But there are a few other issues I would like to discuss.…”