Political Quotes

“If I could just finish this one thought. The Senator's point is, well, why not just disclose that kind of a trip? There are really two answers to that. First of all, those trips already are disclosed. Disclosure has not prevented this institution from being held up to public scorn. As a matter of fact, it contributed to this institution's being held up to public scorn when it was not only disclosed in our records but played up very widely on national network television. Second, though, I think the main point is this. In the one that was on, I believe, '60 Minutes,' for instance, this is the one where the announcer said: Two weeks ago the action was at the exclusive Boca Raton Resort and Club on Florida's Gold Coast where rooms go for more than $300 a night. We went there first a year ago and found 17 present and former lawmakers having a good time, courtesy of companies like U.S. Tobacco. Now, the people who were there may or may not be able to survive politically that kind of a show. I do not know. Let us assume they all can. The problem is that that kind of a trip, where it is paid for by special interests, where lobbyists are present and where it is principally a recreational trip, although there may be some work going on in the morning, but where it is principally a recreational trip, where your spouses are present and it is principally recreational, holds the institution up to disrepute and makes public confidence in Government that much less likely.”