Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, as the debate concludes, it is becoming painfully clear that this House is responding not to the needs of the country, but to the needs of doing a bunch of things in 100 days. I was a small boy when the Democrats dealt with the 100 days of the New Deal. Those were important times. The country was going broke. A third of our population was out of work. Better than a third of the country was ill-housed, ill-clothed, and ill-fed, according to the President. Homes and farms were being foreclosed. Businesses were going down the drain. The suicide rate was up. They responded in 100 days. However, there is nothing like that challenging the country at this time. What we are doing is rushing to pass an assortment of legislation ill-considered here, worse considered in committee. This legislation has never had hearings in the committee of jurisdiction. We are responding to a demand which is viewed on that side of the aisle as being very important. However, we are not considering the basic responsibility that we as Members of this body have, and that is to legislate well.”