Political Quotes

“as a matter of senatorial courtesy, since I am referring to some things that the majority leader has said previously, not recently but previously, I have informed him of what I was going to say. On August 2, the majority leader decided that the valuable time of this body would be best employed by speculating on the contents of the tax returns of Presidential candidate Governor Mitt Romney. These remarks also touched on the vetting process of the Senate Finance Committee. It is that aspect of this to which I want to refer. As a senior member of the Finance Committee as well as former chairman and ranking member, I have come to familiarize my colleagues with the committee's vetting process. On Thursday, August 2, the majority leader exclaimed: As we know, he has refused to release his tax returns. If a person coming before this body wanted to be a Cabinet officer, he couldn't be if he had the same refusal Mitt Romney does about tax returns. This statement demonstrates a misunderstanding of the confirmation process for Cabinet officials and the Finance Committee vetting process in particular. The fact is, most prospective Cabinet officers do not need to disclose their tax returns. Actually, no prospective Cabinet officer is required to make their returns public in ordinary circumstances. To my knowledge, the Finance Committee is the only committee that asks nominees to provide copies of tax returns.…”