Political Quotes

“My colleagues have heard me mention so many times that we tend to delegate more and we ought to be legislating. This bill is another example of delegating too much and giving too much authority to Cabinet-level people, in this case the Secretary of Homeland Security, and not making enough hard decisions on the floor of the Senate. It is reminiscent of the 1,693 delegations of authority we gave to Cabinet people in the health care reform bill to a point where you can read that 2,700 pages and understand it, but we truly don't know what the health care system in the United States is going to be until those 1,693 regulations are put in place. That is going to be a long way down the road. I wish to point out to my colleagues, I think we are making the same mistake in this immigration bill that is before the Senate. I wish to take some time to talk about how important it is to emphasize the need for Congress to legislate, not delegate, especially with this immigration bill before us. When an immigration bill is nearly 1,200 pages long, the American people should expect that it is their elected representatives writing the legislation and making most of the decisions. They should expect the executive branch and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in particular, to carry out those policies. There are individual circumstances that Congress cannot fully anticipate, so it is understandable, then, delegating some authority.…”