Political Quotes

“if we are going to get into the issue of hyperbole, because this appears to be the movement of this debate, let me simply point out all those folks who are listening in on Senators, everyone who has sponsored an unfunded mandates bill--and there is a majority in this body that has done exactly that--if you cannot vote for this very small toe-in-the-water type of an approach, this miniature movement, this baby step on the issue of unfunded mandates, then you really are going to have a lot of trouble going back to your States, going back to your towns, going back to those town meetings and explaining to the local officials when they ask you why do we constantly get these mandates, why do you tell us what to do with our taxes when we have other needs in our communities, why is it that when we need more police and we need to pay our teachers more we have to spend the money on something you told us to do from Washington that you are not willing to fund, you are going to have a lot of trouble saying to those folks: ``I am against unfunded mandates.”