Political Quotes

“I will accept this amendment this evening, but as I made it clear to the Senator from Pennsylvania, I do not believe this is necessary. We appropriated about $8 million a year for Senate mailing, and the Senators did not use it. They returned $4 million. The Senator from Pennsylvania has suggested that we need an additional $3 million when we are returning $4 million. I do not quite understand it. I think there is adequate money to send out town meeting notices for any Senator who wishes to do so. Many Senators, including some who are in this Chamber, who will go unnamed, did not even use their mailing account last year. They left almost $100,000 in the account. And they are suggesting we need to put more money on the table for mailing. I believe in townhall meetings. I had over 400 as a Congressman, and I support them as a Senator. I am going to, of course, allow this amendment to go forward without objection. I will tell you, as a member of the Rules Committee, the Senator from Pennsylvania has a job to do to convince me to support it there.”