Political Quotes

“to my colleagues in the Senate, to the Senate President, to all those assembled here, I am rising to give this speech, and I feel such privilege because I get to recognize someone whose work most Americans never see but whose contribution is woven into the very history of this institution. When a Senator comes to the floor to speak, whether it is daily routine address or a moment that will echo through generations, there is always someone standing just off camera, often unnoticed, a stenograph machine hanging from their neck, capturing every word we say. They record our arguments and our aspirations, our disagreements and our dreams, our long speeches, and sometimes our longer ones. The dozens of people who are watching C-SPAN may not realize it, but the words spoken in this Chamber simply don't float away into the air. They are preserved--faithfully, meticulously--by extraordinary professionals who ensure that the Congressional Record becomes the living memory of the U.S. Senate and our Nation. For those of you who do not know about these extraordinary stenographers, their work is not easy. It requires years of training, immense focus and concentration, and a remarkable command of language and speed and accents that range from a southern Texas accent to a Jersey one. And it requires a hell of a lot of patience because, as everyone in this Chamber knows, brevity is not always the defining virtue of the U.S. Senate.”