Political Quotes

“I wanted to thank the Senator from Florida for his kind words of encouragement on this criminal justice reform bill that is pending before the Senate. I thank him. I know his personal interest in this subject. I am going to miss his service and his friendship here in the Senate Chamber. I want to thank him for his many years of serving the people of Florida and for standing by me in many causes. It is rare that one of these causes is so bipartisan, and this one is. I heard the testimony or the statement earlier by the Senator from Louisiana, Mr. Kennedy. I count him as a friend. We have cosponsored bills together, and I like him. We disagree on some issues, but we do it in a very positive way, and in the comments I am about to make, I want to be as positive as possible. Senator Kennedy brought a chart to the floor and suggested that there was no support by national law enforcement for the bill that is before us, and he said that most of the State and local law enforcement groups were opposed to it as well. I beg to differ with him. I would like to submit for the record that currently we have the support on this Grassley-Durbin bill from the American Correctional Association, the American Federation of Government Employees, the AFL- CIO, and the Council of Prisons. The very prison guards whom Senator Kennedy referred to on his chart are in support of our position.…”