Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank Congresswoman Slaughter and Congressman Walz for their tremendous work. I stand here and urge our Members to support this bill, but certainly I have my concerns. House Republicans stripped out of a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate overwhelmingly key provisions that were supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. Senator Grassley, the Senator from Iowa who I work with quite a bit, was among the first to criticize their actions. And after they stripped out his provision to require greater transparency over so-called political intelligence, Senator Grassley said, and it has been said again and again, but I think it needs to be in the DNA of every cell of our brains, that ``It's astonishing''--and these are his words--``and extremely disappointing that the House would fulfill Wall Street's wishes by killing the provision.'' That is an incredible indictment, and I share his disappointment that this bill does not go far enough to require the transparency that we need. Let me be clear: no Members of Congress should be able to benefit personally from information they gain by virtue of their service in the Congress. However, House Republicans have rushed to the floor weakened legislation that Members have not had a chance to read the way they should have had. Perhaps as a result of the rush, this bill also appears to have drafting problems that need to be corrected.…”