Political Quotes

“Madam President, shortly, the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Whitehouse, will come to the Senate floor and attempt to have a live unanimous consent request for a nominee to be the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. When he does so, Madam President, I intend to object to that request, and I want to explain why to my colleagues. Senator Whitehouse has been delayed in getting to the Senate floor, so I am going to outline my objections prior to his making the request. Madam President, in all of the time that I have served in the U.S. Senate, I don't ever recall coming to the Senate floor to object to a unanimous consent request. I say that because it demonstrates how unusual it is for me to be standing here objecting to one of my colleague's unanimous consent requests. Indeed, as I said, I don't believe I have ever done this in all of the time I have served in the Senate. So let me give the Presiding Officer and my colleagues some background. On May 1, despite the objections of the entire Maine congressional delegation and its Democratic Governor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, better known as NOAA, imposed onerous new regulations on Maine's lobster industry. Now, Madam President, if I asked you what is the first thing you think of when I say the State of Maine, you probably would say lobster, our iconic industry. We have more than 4,500 lobstermen and -women, each of whom is self-employed.…”