Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I stand here merely as a foot soldier in this discussion. However, I would like to take a moment to offer some comments on the Supreme Court's decision today to strike down the line-item veto as unconstitutional. I am proud to say that I was one of 29 Members who in March of 1995 cast a vote against the line-item veto, along with the distinguished Senator from West Virginia, the distinguished Senator from Michigan, and Senator Moynihan and 25 others on that day who expressed their opinion that they opposed this legislation--not as I recall, although others may have said, because they disagreed with the approach to deal with the budget issue. In my view, it had little or nothing to do with the budget process, but had everything to do with the issue that provoked the briefs to be filed, amicus curiae briefs, and the subsequent legal actions--that issue is the constitutionality of the line-item veto.”