Political Quotes

“Madam President, I commend the Senator from Louisiana for his leadership and for his courage in not just helping to develop this proposal that we have offered in a legislative forum but in trying to make sure that it gets the debate it needs and the vote it needs on this floor. For a couple of centuries, Members of the Senate would introduce legislation, and that legislation would be debated. Democrats and Republicans would have the opportunity to offer amendments to that legislation and to get votes on that legislation and on their amendments. We would hammer out a compromise in the Senate and eventually with the House and with whoever was President. The Presiding Officer may remember an old movie called ``The Way We Were.'' That is the way we were, and we need desperately to get back to the way we were when we were the world's greatest deliberative body. A good way to get started on that path is by supporting the legislation that my friend from Louisiana and I have coauthored with the support of a broad coalition of Senators and with the support of the business community and the environmental community as well. Our amendment, as Senator Kennedy has described today, is identical to legislation called the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. I am not a really big one for acronyms, but the acronym that the Senator has used is AIM, the AIM Act. It is currently supported by a bipartisan group of 32 Senators--16 Republicans and 16 Democrats.…”