Political Quotes

“Thank you, Madam President. I know Senator Kirk is on his way to give tribute to one of his staffer--a tragic situation--so I am going to be very brief. Madam President, I come to the floor to support Senator Collins' efforts to bring some common sense to these truck safety regulations, and I know this is a very emotional debate because of the tragic accident that occurred recently with a very well-known and well- respected comedian, Tracy Morgan. I understand that there are families in my State and around the country who have had horrible and, unfortunately, fatal accidents with trucks that are more and more prevalent on our overcrowded highway system. I am not insensitive to those families, to those stories, and I honestly believe that what Senator Collins and I and others are trying to do is going to make a very unsafe situation more safe, not less safe. There is really an honest and sincere disagreement among us that has to be debated. I am glad we are having this debate so that the evidence, the record, and the facts can speak for themselves. This first came to my attention a couple of months ago when a group of citizens came up from Louisiana to say: Senator, we are shocked to tell you this, but there is a new rule out that is going to require truckers to sleep between the hours of 1:00 and 5:00 two nights a week. I looked at them and said: That cannot possibly be correct. Nobody at the Federal Government would ever mandate when people are supposed to sleep.…”