Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend and colleague, the distinguished majority leader, for yielding, and I am delighted to join him and my other colleagues in this tribute to a great citizen of the State of Michigan. He is our friend, our distinguished colleague from Michigan's Fifth District, Dale Kildee, who has just cast his 19,999th vote, and his next vote will be 20,000. He is in his 34th year in this institution. And after he replaced our friend Don Riegle--who made the curious career choice of running for the Senate--he has been a matter of good fortune to all of us in Michigan and to this body because he's been a rock-solid member of this institution. In his whole 34 years, he's only missed 27 votes. That's a 99.9 percent voting record. He once made 8,141 consecutive votes. I have to say, a fellow should avoid that; the pressure of that situation is very bad. But we all agree, his accomplishments are not just about numbers. He's been an important figure on legislation that has bettered the life of our families, particularly our youngest citizens. No one here can find anyone who has done more to protect American children than has our friend, Dale Kildee. From his place on the House Education and Labor Committee, he's been a leader on Head Start, school modernization, school safety, college access and affordability. He's been a great champion of our Great Lakes which he loves and which he has protected.…”