Political Quotes

“I certainly agree with my friend from Arizona. They may not have understood what caused the problems, but when they see the type of gridlock where the Senate can't take up amendments for 1 week or can't take up a bill for 2 weeks or debating how to proceed on a motion to proceed, not only on substance, they wonder what is going on here. So the Senator is absolutely right. Also, we are going to be in a much better start to this Senate with Democrats and Republicans agreeing on the rules collectively. That is certainly a better place for us to start to work with this Congress, and it gives us the opportunity to work together with more confidence, beyond just rules but also dealing with the difficult issues this country faces. Mr. McCAIN. Wouldn't the Senator from Maryland agree that the whole purpose of this is not to block? In fact, with our numerous meetings with the Parliamentarians, I think we reached a greater and fuller understanding that if someone really, really wants to block progress in the Senate, given the incredible--if the word isn't ``arcane,'' it is certainly ``detailed''--rules of the Senate, they can.…”