Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. In the political life that we have here and our service to the American people, I take great pride in always saying, when somebody says to me, Were you surprised when somebody did this, that, or this bill did that or that? I say, I'm hardly ever surprised in politics because I know what the possibilities are. I am thoroughly surprised today. I had absolutely no idea the mischief that Mr. Hoyer was up to, going back decades, I might add. But I thank him for his kind words, and all of you for your nice reception. I thank the Speaker for his gracious comments as well. While he was speaking, I was remembering, oh, my goodness, we're taking up time on the floor and it's personal and that. But then I was recalling that it wasn't that long ago when we--maybe 5, 6 years ago when we came to the floor to acknowledge that then-Speaker Hastert was the longest serving Republican Speaker of the House and we made much ado about that landmark. So I comfortably accept your kind words, since we could observe that, and I think and I said, Long may his record stand, at that time. That passes for humor in certain circles. As the gentlemen were speaking, I was recalling when I was first Speaker and sitting in the chair to welcome the President of the United States to the Chamber for the first time, and it was President George W. Bush.…”