Political Quotes

“Sir, I would like to speak to the matter that the Senator from West Virginia has addressed from the perspective of the Finance Committee. I think the Senator will agree that most of the budget of the Federal Government goes through the Finance Committee in terms of tax provisions, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the interest on the public debt, which is a very large sum, which we do not debate much because we have to pay it. The two committees--Finance and Appropriations--were formed at about the same time in our history and have had the preeminent quality that comes with the power of the purse, that primal understanding of the founders that this is where the responsibilities of government lie--to lay and collect taxes; to do so through tariffs, to do so through direct taxation. We had an income tax briefly in the Civil War, but there was the judgment that we ought to amend the Constitution to provide for it directly. Sir, I came to this body 24 years ago. I have learned that, as I shall retire in January--and, God willing, I will live until then-- there will only have been 120 Senators in our history who served more terms. So they claim a certain experience. I obtained a seat on the Finance Committee with that wondrous Senator from Rhode Island. We were in the same class, Senator Chafee and Senator Danforth and I. I obtained a seat as a first-time Senator, through the instrumentality of the new majority leader. I avow that. I acknowledge it. I am proud of it.”