Political Quotes

“I want to make an observation that there are a couple of kinds of willful blindness. One is willful blindness about climate change in the first place, a desire not to hear the truth, a desire to put blinders on when it comes to these issues. I will note that not every time but almost every time we have a debate on climate, we have a nice complement of Democrats on this side and a totally empty Chamber on the other side. It is not that they don't know what is going on, it is that they know exactly what is going on, and they don't want to deal with it. They don't want to deal with it, and they are good people and patriotic people, but there is a reason to believe this willful blindness is not coincidental. I would just implore the Senate Republicans who respect the Senate, who understand our special role under the Constitution to give advice and consent on nominations for Cabinet positions, that this isn't some minor sub-Cabinet position. This isn't some matter of little import. I understand both sides employ tactics to delay action on the Senate floor. That is kind of part of the way this body works, right? The minority slows the majority down, and we try to come to some kind of consensus, sometimes a unanimous consent agreement or whatever it may be, to try to make this place work a little better, and it is maddeningly slow, but it forces bipartisanship, right? I understand the accusation that sometimes gets made that we are just trying to delay for delay's sake.…”