Political Quotes

“The Senator is very carefully avoiding the obvious; that is, the vast majority of seniors already have prescription drug coverage. What we are trying to do is bring into coverage those who do not have it, and more than half of them have not signed up for the program. So he is comparing numbers here that do not work. I will reclaim my time because I would like to speak to the tax reconciliation bill. But before I do, the way to deal with this issue on small business health insurance is on behalf of the leader to sit down and decide what amendments will be in order and to move forward. But that is not the way we do business in the Senate. It is a confrontation strategy. The Republican majority brings a bill to the Senate, fills the tree so no amendments can be offered, and then files cloture, which stops debate. So we cannot have this conversation. We cannot offer other amendments. Why would the Republican majority leader want to avoid a vote on stem cell research? Because Members on the Republican side of the aisle up for reelection are nervous about this vote. They have said they oppose stem cell research, and they know a majority of the people in their states favor stem cell research and they do not know what to do. They want to avoid the pain. They do not want to face the votes. I remind them what my former colleague from Oklahoma, Mike Synar, used to say: If you don't want to fight fires, don't be a firefighter.…”