Political Quotes

“I rise for the purpose of inquiring of the schedule for the week to come. Madam Speaker, I thought I saw the whip. I am prepared to yield to someone to tell us the schedule for the week to come. Pending someone telling me about the schedule for the week to come, let me observe, as someone who has served, Madam Speaker, in this House for a very extended period of time--some 36 years--I was here in the era not too long ago, but long ago--when, if we had done to the Republicans what was done to us, what was done to switch votes so that discrimination could prevail, there would be outrage expressed long into the night from our Republican colleagues who would accuse us of undermining democracy, undermining this House, and making the House less than it should be. 217 people stood up and said: We ought not discriminate. And then, very frankly, Mr. Speaker, the leadership on the Republican side started its activity. And I have been the majority leader, I have been the whip. I understand that process. And they reached out to people and said: No, let us be able to discriminate. Let contractors be able to discriminate. Mr. Speaker, seven people who had voted not to allow discrimination decided perhaps that principle was not as important as they thought just a minute or so before. I have a list of those names here--a lamentable list of people who did the right thing, who stood up for nondiscrimination, and then were opportuned to change their vote.…”