Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first of all, I express my appreciation to you, presiding all these hours you have this afternoon, but I also wish to take just a minute and thank these pages. This is the first time since 1974 the Senate has been in session during a July 4 recess period--since 1974. These young pages had places to be with their families during the summer vacation period. They are juniors in high school. They have some plans, I am sure, that we interfered with. But regarding the work we have done this week, while there has not been a lot of time on the floor, there are a lot of things going on all over Washington. There have been meetings at the White House, there have been meetings with the Vice President, with the President, with the Speaker, and others, working on this very important issue. When these eight pages in later years reflect back on the fact that they were here the first time since 1974 when we were in session over a July 4 recess period, they should reflect that we were here for important reasons. If we do what is right, we will rein in this debt the country has and protect the most needy of our country. I apologize for keeping them here. They should not have had to be here this week, but they have stayed because they have an obligation as pages to be here and they accepted that. They have kept the Senate running smoothly. We need them. They are helpful to us.…”