Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise because several speakers have talked about this being a very partisan issue. I do not really think it is that partisan of an issue, and what I am going to say here is what I said not too long ago at the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure markup of this legislation. That is that certainly, from my perspective, I am opposed to the renaming of Washington National Airport for Ronald Reagan. Not because I oppose Ronald Reagan. In fact, there are a few people on this side of the aisle, if any, that supported Ronald Reagan more than I did in the 6 years that I was here while he was President of the United States. In fact, there are some people on the other side of the aisle who were here, and still are here, who probably supported Ronald Reagan less than I did. I remember back when we were debating the situation on Nicaragua and the President had a piece of legislation in to give military aid to the Contras, and that passed this floor by one vote. Poor Tip O'Neill was the Speaker of the House at that time, and he came very close to having a heart attack when I voted on behalf of President Reagan and the military aid to the Contras. There were numerous other things that I supported the President on. So I come to this floor today to express to everyone listening that I am not opposed to Ronald Reagan.”