Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. I have no disrespect for Mr. Hensarling. I think he is a very able Member of this body, and I have great respect for him. I disagree with him both on the Export-Import Bank, and I think I correctly characterize his view on whether we ought to do TRIA, but I do respect the fact, yes, he did bring it to the floor, and when he brought it to the floor, it passed overwhelmingly. I won't pursue that further, but I don't expect Mr. Hensarling-- because I think he honestly believes that we ought not to have an Export-Import Bank involvement, but having said that, I think that is not the position of the majority of this House. When we last voted on it, it wasn't the position of the majority of your party or of mine. Now, that may have changed; I agree with that, but I think I am pretty confident in saying the majority of this House believes, in order to make sure that we stay competitive with worldwide competitors, that the Export-Import Bank is a critical component of that competitive ability. I simply hope that we will be considering it. If it fails, it fails, but I think the American public, on this and so many other issues, deserves a vote on this floor. As the Speaker, and I have repeated this time and again, said at the beginning in the last election that his objective was to let the House work its will on this matter, as well as some others that I will discuss in the future, I would hope we could do that.…”