Political Quotes

“I would like to make this point which I think the Senator's amendment misses. We cannot authorize a program with committee report language--we cannot authorize a program with committee report language. I learned long ago that unless we have bill language, actually creating a law, we are not authorizing the creation of a program. The Senator's language says: The term ``congressional earmark'' means a provision or report language authorizing or recommending a specific amount. It is not legally possible in a committee report to authorize a program. Ninety-five percent of the earmarks produced by this Congress are in report language and conference reports that actually do not have the force of law, that are recommended but have been carried out by the executive branch for years just for fear of retribution from the Congress because we talked to the President about this. There is no reason why these should not be disclosed. There is no reason the American people should not know they are there.”