Political Quotes

“today we mourn the death of a great Speaker of this House. Everyone who believes in representative government and the democratic process is indebted to Tip O'Neill and I am honored to have been his friend and colleague for more than 40 years. Tip was, of course, a vastly talented and gifted legislator but the quality that lifted him to greatness was the basic, thoroughgoing humanity of the man. From his first day in public life to the last, Tip O'Neill believed that the fundamental purpose of government was to meet the needs of people who cannot help themselves. The press in recent years has tended to call the O'Neill approach to government old fashioned liberalism but I can tell you that Tip O'Neill stood for principled, humane government and for policies that made sense for this country, and he was right. His battle for these ideas is his splendid legacy and I am very proud to have served here with him. I remember well his opposition to the Vietnam war. He and I were among the earliest opponents of that tragedy and Tip took his stand when President Johnson and the war were quite popular in his district. He was never more right than on that issue and the people of Cambridge continued to support him.”