Political Quotes

“I visited the Robert Taylor homes, the area in controversy, on Monday morning. I took no reporters with me, no television cameras, so I could just talk to the people who are in that area. Overwhelmingly, they want the police to do the job. They want people to come in and inspect and take the guns and the drugs, and so forth. I visited one room where they must have had 200 or 300 weapons. I am not talking about just small weapons. These were AK-47's, and all kinds of things, including rifles with sights so you could see 300 yards at what you are aiming. I am for the Wellstone amendment. If the Wellstone amendment is defeated, I am going to vote for the Dole amendment. But Senator Wellstone is absolutely correct that his amendment is not contrary to the administration position. I met late Monday afternoon with Vince Lane, the chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority, and talked to the people at HUD. They said they want this to be a voluntary thing, and they are going to make clear that people have to voluntarily sign up. I think you will see in the Robert Taylor homes, the area in question, that 75 to 95 percent of the people will voluntarily sign up. There is some fear of abuse by police. No question about it. But there is much greater fear of the gangs and the weapons and everything else.”