Political Quotes

“Madam President, I appreciate very much the words of my colleague from New Jersey. He is a very thoughtful Senator. He is a member of the Finance Committee so I have a lot of relationships with him. I am glad he spoke highly of some of the changes we have suggested in the IG system generally through our amendment. But I think the real difference for Senator McCaskill and this Senator is the fact of whether they should be Presidentially appointed. That is probably a difference that is going to be hard to bridge. So I will speak to that point and also say I hope Senator McCaskill will be able to come over here and rebut Senator Menendez because she is on the committee that has jurisdiction over IGs, and she has been very much involved over her recent tenure in the Senate on strengthening the system of IGs. She will probably speak with more authority on this issue than I can, from the standpoint that I am not on that committee--even though I am involved very deeply in strengthening IGs because I think they are an extension of the checks and balances of government, particularly the extent to which they work with those of us involved in the constitutional responsibility of oversight performed by the Congress. I wish to say flat out I do not accept the argument that Presidentially appointed IGs are always more independent. I think Senator McCaskill spoke on this point earlier when she was presenting our amendment. In fact, Presidential appointments raise another problem.…”