Political Quotes

“Before we go out, I want to respond to the Senator's question. First of all, I appreciate the friendship that we have. I say this for the institution, I say to my friend for the institution. I would have stood to defend this institution. You are part of this institution, and the institution we call the U.S. Senate is also being defamed. This is not the way to legislate. Yes, Larry Hicks flew from Nevada to here, as did other people fly from around the country. What a disappointment it would have been to Larry Hicks and to the other people if they had come back here to find out the meeting was canceled. No one could have criticized you for canceling that meeting. Anthrax was present. People were being treated for anthrax poison. No one could have criticized you. But you not only held a markup back here; you went down on the first floor and held a hearing. I said earlier today, if we passed out medals in the Senate, you would deserve a medal for what you did last week. To have people criticizing you and your committee for not moving fast enough is disgraceful.”