Political Quotes

“last evening in an hour set aside at the request of Senators Pryor and Alexander, a very good conversation took place on the Senate floor. Senators Pryor and Alexander are exemplary in trying to work things out; they are good legislators because they understand no side gets their way. I have been here a long time, and I have been fortunate to get pieces of legislation passed that I sponsored and worked toward, but I have never ever had a piece of legislation that I introduced that wound up with that piece of legislation; always there are changes. That is the legislative process. That is what Senator Pryor and Alexander talked about yesterday evening. It was important. They talked about the need to bring bills to the floor. They focused on appropriations bills--and rightfully so. I am a longtime member of the Appropriations Committee, as is the Republican leader, and we understand the importance of working on these bills. In the last number of years, we haven't been able to do individual appropriations bills, except on rare occasions. We have done these omnibus and minibuses, and we are trying to get away from that. I think the framework laid last night was extremely important. The Republican leader and I have talked individually, personally, away from everyone, about the need to get this done for the integrity of the Senate, and the colloquy last night helped what I think the Republican leader and I wish to get done.…”