Political Quotes

“Madam President, it was after 2 a.m. this morning when the Senate finally passed this historic measure which puts the fiscal cliff behind us, if--if--the House of Representatives follows through and passes it as well. I hope they take it up today or as quickly as possible and pass it with the same bipartisan spirit and vote we saw on the floor of the Senate last night. If I am not mistaken, the final vote was 89 to 8, which was a significant bipartisan vote. It was a moment of high emotion in the Senate for several reasons. First, on a personal level, many of our colleagues were casting their final vote as Senators. Those who are leaving the Senate gathered in the well and we wished them the best. It was also a moment of high emotion because I cannot think of another vote in recent times the American people followed so closely. I couldn't sit down on an airplane or at a restaurant in Chicago without having somebody come up to me and say: What is going to happen? They were very concerned, as they should have been, because the so-called fiscal cliff is a threat to our economic recovery and one that, I believe, finally mobilized the majority necessary to pass this measure in the Senate on a bipartisan basis. The President showed extraordinary leadership on this matter. I know he was personally invested in it. He thought about it long and hard.…”