Political Quotes

“I want to join so many of my colleagues and the majority leader in congratulating my individual colleague from the State of Maine on this extraordinary achievement. I once was at a meeting with Senator Collins in Maine and had just gotten my voting record, and I think I missed two votes out of a couple thousand. I said to Senator Collins: Look, I am 99.2 percent on making all the votes. She paused for a moment and looked at me and smiled and said: You will never catch me. And she was absolutely correct that the math doesn't work. To have made 7,000 consecutive votes is an extraordinary achievement, particularly given the logistics of this place--the logistics of getting back and forth to Maine. She and I travel back and forth to Maine frequently together. But to have achieved this is really something remarkable in the annals of the U.S. Senate. In the 1980s and 1990s, I got to know one of her predecessors, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, who was a legend in Maine. Senator Smith was not only legendary for making every vote but also for always wearing a red rose. Every day that she appeared in the Senate, Senator Smith wore a red rose. So I would like to conclude my remarks by taking a red rose to Senator Collins in recognition of her following in the footsteps of her illustrious predecessor. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor. ____________________”