Political Quotes

“I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I ask unanimous consent that the time during the quorum call be equally allocated to both sides. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President I ask that the quorum call be suspended. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from South Carolina. Mr. DeMINT. I would like to speak on my amendment which will be voted on in a few minutes. Amendment No. 510 This amendment would strike the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics from the list of the Senate-confirmed positions that would be removed from the confirmation process. I wish to explain why this is important because this seems to be something that maybe would not be important to pull out from this long list of nominees who no longer need be confirmed. It is very important that this particular position, this nominee for this position, be vetted and confirmed by the Senate. It is often said statistics don't lie; people do. Particularly in this business, we have seen one set of statistics be interpreted and publicized in totally different ways, and that is why this position is so important. The role they have is critical. In a democracy and in a free country, one of the most important aspects to protect against is that risk of the government becoming a propaganda machine.…”