Political Quotes

“It is characteristic of our beloved former President pro tempore to thank others for the efforts that have led to the Court's nondecision today. Might I take the opportunity to thank him. It is his magisterial understanding of the Constitution and his Olympian commitment to it that brought us together, and brought to us the finest legal minds of this time to prepare the briefs that first won hands down in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and now have been put aside by the Court, but only temporarily. I think it would be not inappropriate to note that one judge and one Justice have spoken to this subject, and in both cases they have spoken to the unconstitutional nature of the act. I ask the Senate if I might just indulge to read a paragraph from Justice Stevens' dissenting opinion this morning. He says: The Line Item Veto Act purports to establish a procedure for the creation of laws that are truncated versions of bills that have been passed by the Congress and presented to the President for signature. If the procedure were valid, it would deny every Senator and every Representative any opportunity to vote for or against the truncated measure that survives the exercise of the President's cancellation authority. Because the opportunity to cast such votes is a right guaranteed by the text of the Constitution, I think it is clear that the persons who are deprived of that right by the Act have standing to challenge its constitutionality.”