Political Quotes

“Mr. President, many years ago when I graduated from Georgetown Law School, I was offered a job by the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Paul Simon. He asked if I would join his staff in Springfield, IL, in the State capital and if I would serve as his senate parliamentarian. I jumped at the chance. I was in desperate need of a job with a wife, a baby, and another one on the way. Deep in debt, I skipped my commencement exercise to get out and on the payroll in Springfield of the Illinois State Senate. The first day I walked in on the job at the Lieutenant Governor's office they handed me the senate rule book. It was the first time I had ever seen it. They parked me in a chair next to the presiding officer of the Illinois Senate, the Lieutenant Governor, and said: Now you are here to give advice. I spent every waking moment reading that rule book and trying to understand what it meant. There wasn't a course like that in law school or anything that gave me guidance as to what I was to do. I made a lot of stupid mistakes, and I learned along the way what it meant to be a senate parliamentarian. It was a humbling experience, in many respects, to learn this new body of law, how it applied to the everyday business of the Illinois State Senate. It was equally humbling to be in a position where your voice was never heard but your rulings were repeated by so many. I recall that many years later--14 years later--I was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.…”