Political Quotes

“Only on one occasion. The point the Senator is making I understand. But only on one occasion. Two other occasions I can think of where Presidents have asked not to have more authority--when they thought they were going to lose. I have personally spoken to the President. I have spoken to the National Security Adviser. The National Security Adviser would like to have this authority. But what he does not want to have is a vote that says he cannot have the authority. They are worried if there is a vote that is a straight up-and-down vote and it loses, that it will mean, in conjunction with the House vote last week, that the Congress is on record against ground troops. My argument to them is it does not mean that. It means they concluded they were not prepared to do it now without the White House asking for it. But I believe there have been circumstances in the past where Presidents have affirmatively suggested they not ask for authority and table something when they thought they did not have the votes. My colleagues on this side have told them they do not have the votes, as have your colleagues. I think my colleagues on this side are wrong, and I think the colleagues on the other side are wrong about the votes. Because I find an interesting thing, Senator. On very, very important matters--and everyone knows how important this is--Congress likes to avoid responsibility. I will take us back very briefly to the Persian Gulf.…”