Political Quotes

“I thank my friend and colleague from Oregon for coming to the floor and stating his position on the bill. For those who follow the Senate, we are about to see something that is historic, precedent setting, and nothing short of remarkable in an hour and a half. The Senate is actually going to vote on a bill. Those who are watching this program on C-SPAN or from galleries may actually see 100 Senators--or close to that number--come to the floor, vote, and perhaps there will be a bipartisan majority supporting the bill. At least that is my hope. I have joined with Senator Enzi, a Republican from Wyoming; Senator Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee; and Senator Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, in a bipartisan effort to solve a problem. It was a problem not out of our creation, it was a problem that came about because commerce has changed in the United States. Twenty years ago the State of North Dakota went to the Supreme Court and said: We want to collect sales tax from remote sellers. Twenty years ago these were mainly catalog sales. It would give a company that made a catalog sale in the State of North Dakota the ability to collect sales tax. Nearly 21 years ago the Supreme Court--across the street--said in the Quill decision: We are not going to rule this from the Court. It is up to Congress to write the law. Well, in lightning-fast speed--the kind of reaction we have come to expect--21 years later, here we are actually debating the bill.…”