Political Quotes

“Madam President, over the past few months, Democrats and Republicans have had many positive discussions about the direction of the 112th Congress. There are many important issues facing our country and solutions will require bipartisan cooperation. In particular, there has been a lot of discussion lately about the Senate rules. Many of my colleagues have spoken to me about the way the Senate operated during the last Congress. I think my friend from Kentucky would agree with me that there was great frustration on both sides of the aisle. The Senate was always intended to be, has always been, and should always remain, the saucer that allows the boiling tea to cool to ensure rash actions do not get enacted into law; to ensure that laws reflect the cold rationality of reason and not the heat of perhaps misplaced passion. But, there has been concern in recent years that the Senate rules have been abused--that a very few have turned rules designed to ensure careful examination into a simple bottleneck for parochial purposes. Some have even expressed concern that the Senate is broken. Now, I wouldn't say the Senate is broken, as I am proud to say that the last Congress was historic in its achievements. But the Senate Republican leader, my friend from Kentucky, and I have heard concerns from many different Senators about Senate rules and processes, and we have discussed the issue with each other at length.…”