Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, it's not every day we get to speak on the House floor about friends and colleagues that are not constituents or other Members of Congress, and tonight we have the distinct privilege to recognize a friend and fixture of Congress behind the scenes, Mr. John Sullivan. Most of you will probably remember that John was appointed Parliamentarian by our former colleague, Speaker Dennis Hastert, in 2004 and did serve for 25 years. Those that have worked with him will tell you he's an excellent Parliamentarian, an institutionalist, and a man of integrity that truly cares about the House of Representatives. He would never bend the rules to pursue a certain outcome. And how you play the game is more important to him than whether you win or lose. I just wanted to tell a couple of things. When I first came to Congress, at that time, freshmen always had a week to chair the floor at night. And so I guess because I had a ``B'' for a last name, Biggert, that I got to do it first. Now, the only problem with that was that it was the training was the next week. So I went to the floor and I stood up there and I had this microphone sitting there, and I looked out and I said, What am I doing here? And I think I was kind of frozen, and John said, This is what you do. And so I proceeded on. Another time, I was in the chair and suddenly there was a lapse of decorum by two of our Members, one on each side of the aisle. I won't name the names.…”