Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the Senate floor for the last time. I am not generally big on nostalgic reminiscences, but I would like to briefly reflect on what is clearly the greatest honor of my professional life--my 12 years in the U.S. Senate and 5\1/ 2\ years in the U.S. House of Representatives and the enormous honor of serving the people of Louisiana to whom I will always be so deeply indebted. In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was on the floor of the U.S. House being sworn in, surrounded by our very young children, except for Jack, who wasn't born yet. I said then: ``I am honored, humbled, awestruck to stand before you today.'' I stated my simple goal: to become at ease and comfortable as I learn the ways of Congress, as I hopefully become an effective representative and respected colleague and friend, but never to become so at ease and comfortable that I lose these feelings of honor, of humility, of awe, and, believe me, I haven't. My very first year in the Senate was a very memorable one. That year Louisiana was struck by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. After the initial shock of those cataclysmic events, I realized that for quite some time, my priorities as Louisiana Senator would be dominated by the desperate need to rebuild our State, including dramatically improving our hurricane and flood protection and restoring our coastline. Katrina's devastation was hard to imagine, destroying much of Southeast Louisiana and Coastal Mississippi.…”