Political Quotes

“When you serve on the Rules Committee, you spend a lot of time dealing in acrimony at least here on the floor. When you serve on the Rules Committee and your job is to get the business of the House accomplished, when we are not on the House floor, it isn't acrimony. It may be impassioned. It may be, at times, divisive. But it is all focused on a single goal, and that is making sure that this institution fulfills not just the expectations of our constituents back home, but the expectations of our framers who established it to begin with. Members of Congress come and go, Mr. Speaker, and, inevitably, what makes a Member of Congress successful is being surrounded by a team of excellence, a team of excellence back home in terms of bosses and constituents and a team of excellence here in Washington to help make sure that all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed and that the big things get done. When Miles Lackey leaves this institution, Mr. Speaker, it is going to be harder to get the big things done. It is going to be harder because the biggest commodity we have in this town is not a Member pin, is not a Member representational allowance, is not how much mail goes out the door. The most precious commodity in this town is trust, and not everybody has it. Sadly, not everybody wants it. But to do anything that is worth doing in this town, it has to be built on a foundation of trust.…”