Political Quotes

“Mr. President, keep in mind we have repeatedly offered to the Senator from Kentucky an opportunity for a vote: Bring your approach to the floor. Let the Senate decide. Accept the decision of the Senate, win or lose. That is the most any Senator can ask for. Yet he wants more. He wants a guarantee that he wins. Well, there is no guarantee you win in the Senate. There is no guarantee you win in baseball. You do the best you can. Under these circumstances, I think what we have reached is a point that is difficult to understand and explain. I would like to invite my Republican colleagues--all of them--to come to the floor and express themselves on this. If they believe we should cut off unemployment benefits, health insurance benefits, close down the U.S. Department of Transportation's work in the States, close down the SBA programs for small businesses, I hope they will come and express that point of view. They should, if they feel that way. If they feel, as I do, that this is unfair and unfortunate, if they will come forward and join us on the floor, we can try to build up some momentum for moving this issue forward. There are people in every State of the Union who are suffering today because of the objection of one Senator, because of the filibuster of one Senator, and that is a sad indication of what has happened in the Senate; that we have reached this point and that even offering an up- or-down vote on an amendment is not enough.…”