Political Quotes

“someday I will write a book--maybe--and one of the topics that I have thought of, because I spent most of my adult life in the world of legislating, is what motivates or inspires the idea to introduce a bill that might one day become a law. I think many people would be surprised at what the motivation could be. For example, on health issues, I have found Members who were inspired because of the knowledge of someone in their family or a friend who went through a challenge with a medical condition and asked them if they would help in the field of research. Of course, many bills come to us from constituents who contact us and have problems and challenges, and we realize the only real recourse is a change in the law. That is the case with the bill I am introducing today. It was 20 years ago that we got a phone call in my office in Chicago, and a woman who was the director of a music program in the city of Chicago asked for some help. The program is known as the MERIT Music Program, and a very kind lady left some money to the program with the instruction that it should be used to teach students--low-income family students--in public schools how to play a musical instrument and to actually buy the instrument for them. It has been spectacularly successful. And, of course, we learned that many students, if they take up music, turn out to be not only musicians but very good students. The MERIT Music Program has quite a history.…”