Political Quotes

“in a short time, we are going to have two votes that will define the difference in values between the two political parties in this Chamber. For 2 or 3 years now, President Clinton has been calling for a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. During that period of time, the Republicans were in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a bill never came to the floor to deal with this issue, which is paramount in the minds of families across America. On the Democratic side, we have asked, from day 1, for a chance to bring the President's proposal or our own proposal to the floor. The only way this vote came about this evening on a prescription drug benefit under Medicare is because we had to tie this Chamber into procedural knots to achieve this vote. Well, I commend the Republicans who are supporting this bipartisan measure, and I hope many of them will cross the aisle and join us in a bipartisan show of support for a prescription drug benefit. For those who think they can vote against this prescription drug benefit and go home and explain that it was such a new idea and they didn't have a chance to read it, I can tell them the President has had a proposal here for years. This idea has been out here for years. You have been in control of the committees and in control of the Senate. We have waited for your prescription drug benefit, but there is nothing for us to consider from the Republican side.”