Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak on a matter with my colleague Senator Warner. I understood Senator Warner and I had the time from 4:15 to 5 o'clock which was generously given to us by Senator Sanders who had the time before 5 o'clock. Unfortunately, Senator Harkin has gone over and used some of Senator Sanders' time. I know Senator Kirk is coming down to give his maiden speech at 5 o'clock, and I hope he will bear with us. We have a number of folks who are going to speak very quickly today on an issue that is of major importance to America. America's fiscal house is in disarray. Our budget process is broken, and future generations will end up paying the price if we continue to ignore the difficult decisions required to fix this grave threat to our country's fiscal stability. Recently, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has worked in a bipartisan manner to produce recommendations on how to best address our current levels of debt. While these recommendations may not reflect the beliefs of all Members of this body, I commend the Commission's members for having the courage and the open minds to tackle the problem. At the very least, their recommendations can serve as a starting point for a serious debate on how we can ensure a better life for our children and our grandchildren. Today, spending has reached almost 24 percent of America's gross domestic product, while our revenues were at their lowest levels last year in 60 years.…”