Political Quotes

“I thank my friend for yielding, and I'll be brief. I had the privilege many years ago to get on the telephone and call Leonard Boswell. Leonard Boswell was then presiding over the State senate. He tells the story about how his executive assistant came on the floor and said, ``There's a guy named Congressman Hoyer on the phone. Shall I tell him you'll call him back?'' Fortunately, for me, President Boswell at the time said, ``No, I'll talk to him now.'' He turned the podium over to one of his colleagues, and came on the phone and talked to me. And I said, ``Senator, this is Steny Hoyer. I would very much like you to run for Congress. We think you'd be an excellent Member of Congress, we think you'd be a great candidate for Congress, and we think you could win this seat.'' He said, ``Well, what does Mr. Gephardt think about that?'' It so happened Dick was about 4 feet from me, so I said, ``Well, let me turn this over to him, and he'll tell you what he thinks about it.'' Of course, he echoed my comments. {time} 1250 Now, I didn't know Leonard Boswell at the time, but I'd heard wonderful things about Leonard Boswell, not only about his skill as a legislator, but of his decency and his character as a human being; not only his experiences in war, but his service at home as a farmer, as a businessman, as a public representative and as a Senate leader in Iowa.…”