Political Quotes

“this Senate Chamber has had a lot of historic debates. We have considered legislation of great seriousness and historic importance. I have been on the floor of the Senate when we voted on going to war. I can't think of a more serious responsibility that a Member of the Senate might have. You know that even at the end of a good day, innocent people are going to die, and you have to cast a vote as to whether America should make that decision. I have been here when we passed legislation that really was transformative in terms of the future of this country. After we went through the great recession in 2008, President Obama stepped up and said that we have to do something about reforming Wall Street, and we did. We spent months in committee hearings and brought to the floor a bill that is characterized as Dodd-Frank to change Wall Street and to make sure we never went through that kind of economic crisis again. I was here when we considered the Affordable Care Act 10 years ago. That debate went on for over a year, amendment after amendment, change after change. We were addressing an issue that affected virtually every single American family, if not directly, then indirectly. Those are the types of things that have been debated on the floor of this Chamber. But look at it now. It is empty. It is so underutilized that for hours and hours each business day, we come to the floor to make little speeches.…”