Political Quotes

“Mr. President, on my annual tour of Iowa's 99 counties, I visited recently the Boys & Girls Club of Cedar Valley in Waterloo, IA. This was during our last congressional State work period. I held a Q and A with the young Iowans who participate in that afterschool program. We talked about the importance of those programs, advice on how to be a good citizen, and celebrating African-American History Month. I was impressed by the students and appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from them. So I encourage Iowans to volunteer with this organization or any civic organization in need of such volunteers. Giving your time to others helps keep our communities strong. If there is anything you can do to benefit the next generation, you should do it. Besides this example of the Boys & Girls Clubs, I make a practice of going to about 10 or 12 high schools a year, and there are always a couple lessons that I am asked about: how to be a good citizen and ``What advice you would give to us?'' So I try to explain to these young people that the reason I go around to meet young people at high schools is because they never come to my open town meetings. You never get anybody under 18 years of age to do that. So I like to tell them that I consider representative government a two-way street: Those of us elected are one half of it, and our constituents are the other half of it.…”