Political Quotes

“Madam President, this is rare. Twice in the history of the Senate have we had a filibuster involving a nominee for a Cabinet position--twice. But especially disappointing about this is that it was just a few weeks ago that we came together on a bipartisan basis and we said: We are not going to do this anymore. We are going to try to work together. We are going to try to avoid these filibusters. And here we have, sadly, a historic filibuster over an appointment of a former Senator-- Chuck Hagel, a Republican of Nebraska--as Secretary of Defense. I know there is controversy associated with his nomination, but I also know Chuck Hagel. I served on the Senate Intelligence Committee with him. We served together in the Senate. There is no question in my mind that the President made a good choice. I will also tell you that you need to know a little bit about the man to understand why it is a historic choice. Chuck Hagel volunteered and enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era. That was not a casual decision. That was a time when enlisting in the Army meant you might risk your life. He lucked out; he got stationed in a theater that wasn't at war. But what does he do next? He volunteered to go to Vietnam. He volunteered as an enlisted man to go to Vietnam. And he went there--with his brother, incidentally, the two of them--to serve in the U.S. Army.…”