Political Quotes

“Mr. President, before coming here, I used to teach a course at the college level on leadership. At the time, what we tried to do was establish, over the term of a semester, the qualities of good leadership. One of them was that in any complex job, any difficult job, any challenging job, nobody can do it alone. Nobody can do it alone. That description certainly applies to our job here in the U.S. Senate--complex, challenging, and difficult--and we don't do it alone. In fact, all of us have staff. We might let the public think we are doing all of these good works on their behalf, but the truth is, we are supported by wonderful people who work long hours, are creative and able, and really enable us to do the people's work to the extent that we are successful. That is what I want to talk a little bit about today. We don't talk about staff very much, but they are really essential to the operation of this institution, whether it is the people here on this floor who allow us to do our daily work on the floor, whether it is committee staff or, particularly, the personal staff of each Senator, both in our home State and here in Washington. I rise today in sadness because this week--or actually the first week in January--marks the end of a 25-year association for my chief of staff, Kay Rand, and me. Kay is a young woman from Northern Maine-- Aroostook County--in the most northern part of our State.…”