Political Quotes

“having experienced legislative efforts of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it would be a surprise to many people to learn that many Members come to the floor to address issues of personal importance to them, something that happened in their lives that motivates them to take up an issue, introduce a bill, try to create a new law. That happened to me in the House of Representatives many, many years ago when I first confronted the tobacco issue. I lost my father to lung cancer when I was 14 years old, and it was a profound experience, as you might guess, in my life. And I remembered what he went through in the last 100 days of his life, fighting lung cancer and, eventually, succumbing to it. And so I took on the tobacco issue in the House of Representatives on a personal basis as well as a public basis, trying to reduce the power which the Big Tobacco lobby had in the House of Representatives. And when I arrived there in 1982, they were the most powerful lobby in Washington. We were warned as new Members of Congress on both sides--Democratic and Republican--don't touch the tobacco issue. It is an issue that is very important for us to maintain our majority, and you shouldn't bring it up. Well, I ignored that advice and introduced several ideas on reducing the power of the tobacco lobby on Capitol Hill. The one issue that I pursued with success had a profound impact on this country--much more than I ever imagined.…”