Political Quotes

“Madam President, I also want to acknowledge the new Senator from Illinois and thank him for the time. But I also want to acknowledge the senior Senator from Illinois who is here, who just spent the last few months serving honorably on the debt commission on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. They came out with some recommendations. A number of us in this Chamber, while we may not support every one and disagree with some of them, think that is something we must pursue. As they wrote in their report, ``Every modest sacrifice that we refuse to make today only forces far greater sacrifices of hope and opportunity upon the next generation.'' They are right. The longer we wait, the more wrenching the choices become. And guess who is going to have to make those painful choices. It is our children and our children's children. But you know what else. It is ourselves. As the Senator from California pointed out about an hour ago, 6 percent--6 percent--of our spending is interest on that debt. So there are some commonsense suggestions in that report. That is what we have to do next year.…”