Political Quotes

“let me thank my colleague from Tennessee. He is my friend. We have worked together on a lot of things, and I respect him very much. We have done some good things in areas like medical research and other very important issues. Let me say at the outset that he and I are of the same mind when it comes to the future of the U.S. Senate. We have seen better days in this Chamber. In the past year, I don't believe we have had one honest, open debate with amendments on the floor--not one. We maybe got close on a couple, but not like we remember it, when it was an open process and Members brought their best ideas to the floor and the Senate decided things, debated and decided things. We have lost that. I tell new Democratic colleagues: God, you would have loved the old Senate. It was a great place. What you see today is a shell of what it used to be. The second thing I would like to say is that I maybe have an old- fashioned view of these things, but it is one I feel very strongly about. I do not have the right to pass anything on the floor of the Senate. I have the right to offer a measure on the floor of the Senate, to make my best argument, to convince my colleagues that it is the right way to go, and to ask for a fair vote on the outcome. That is what I have a right to do as a Senator. I have seen colleagues--and I would bet the Senator from Tennessee has too--in the past who say: I want to offer my amendment, and I want it to pass. Well, good. Good luck to you.…”