Political Quotes

“Today's generation goes to Google for answers to questions they have about geography, about politics, famous people, or any subject. Any subject, you name it, and we all go to Google as quickly as we can. But long before Google, we had to use books, encyclopedias, volumes of books containing all sorts of facts on topics, and they were all in alphabetic order. For almost the last 40 years--39 to be exact-- the Senate has had its own encyclopedia--legislative counsel Jim Fransen. Jim began his Senate career in 1975, just after graduating from law school--from the University of Wisconsin--where he also studied as an undergraduate. That year he joined the Office of Legislative Counsel as assistant counsel. Over the years, Jim Fransen gradually moved up the ranks until he was named legislative counsel, a position he has held for 15 years. He is a noted expert on a lot of things, but especially the United States Tax Code. We have heard speeches on this floor about the complexity of the Tax Code. That is a monumental assignment, to understand the Tax Code. Jim certainly does, perhaps better than anyone in Washington. Jim actually wrote the Tax Reform Act of 1986. That was the famous Bradley-Gephardt legislation. For four decades, he has played a role in every important piece of tax legislation that has become law in our country. The Office of Legislative Counsel does the work for the Senate--not Democrats, not Republicans, but all of us, including our staffs.…”