Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, as we begin consideration of the substitute, I would like us to focus on something pretty central to the fundamentals of legislating. We ought to do as a Congress that which we can do. The substitute I bring forward will take effect during the tenure of this Congress. It is effective January 1, 2004. The majority proposal before us does nothing during the sitting of this Congress, nothing during the sitting of the next Congress, the Congress after that, the Congress after that, or the Congress after that. Nothing until January 1, 2011. We have heard so much from the other side. We have heard so much about how they care about all the problems, how mean of us to oppose their addressing the problems. And yet now when it comes to the substitute, this is where the rubber meets the road because we want to do something now and something meaningful and they do nothing. Nothing about their bill. Not one whit of their bill applies during the sitting of this Congress or until the year 2011.”