Political Quotes

“I believe we have reached an agreement on this amendment which will help us move this important resolution along. The purpose of this amendment is to move us closer to the bipartisan model which we want to establish for this important intelligence committee. Yesterday, with an overwhelming vote of 96 to 2, the Members of this Chamber adopted the intelligence reform suggested by the 9/11 Commission, and it is a product of the fine bipartisan cooperation of Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. I believe in the time I have been fortunate enough to represent Illinois in the Senate, it was one of our finer moments because we responded to a national crisis. We did it in a timely fashion. We did it in an orderly way. We brought together amendments which were substantive and numerous and voted in nonpartisan rollcalls. We came to the floor, and after a week and a half of debate brought this bill out with a vote of 96 to 2 to reform the executive branch. I think the message of the process and the message of the reform bill is that we want to take partisanship out of the intelligence operations of the executive branch.”