Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we have worked hard. Not as hard as I would have liked or not as long hours as I would have liked and not as much accomplished as I would have liked, but this is the last day for this group of pages. These spring pages have been exemplary. I really enjoy walking past them. They are out there studying. They are sitting here as we speak now. I wish I could have been a page. I really do. I think it would have been a great life. We have done a much better job of making sure they are safe and happy. When I first came here, the pages lived wherever they could find a place to live. Now we have wonderful, safe, secure dormitories for those young men and women. We have a wonderful educational program for them. It is hard; no one can say it is easy. They learn a lot. Two of my granddaughters have been pages. It changed their lives. They came here not having much interest in government. By the time they left, they had started reading the newspapers--not like the Presiding Officer and I, they did most of their reading online. But they were interested in government, and they still are. I guess they are both seniors now, one at New York University and one at the New School in New York. One of my prized possessions in my office is a picture of my first two grandchildren, these two little girls, Ryan and Mattie. They are in diapers, and they are hanging onto each other. Then I have a picture right on the same little table of them in their page uniforms.…”