Political Quotes

“first, I wish to take just a moment to praise the good work being done by the chairman and the ranking member of the HELP Committee. The senior Senator from Tennessee and the senior Senator from Washington have done a remarkably good job to bring this reauthorization to the floor. Elementary and secondary education is so important, and we are not living up to the standards that we should have. It is important to remember that all of this could have been done a long time ago. On the floor I mentioned yesterday that Senator Harkin--who I said was a legendary Senator who served here for six terms, plus a number of terms in the House of Representatives--for quite some time was chairman of the HELP Committee, and when he wasn't chairman, he served under the guidance and leadership of Senator Kennedy. Yesterday I said that the Republican leader came to the floor and was boasting: Oh, we are getting this bill done. It is so great that things are working so well in the Senate. I mentioned at that time--yesterday--that Senator Harkin tried to bring the bill to the floor. He sent me an email last night, and he said that he on two separate occasions--2011 and 2013--got a bill out of the committee. But what happened? It was blocked coming to the floor by the Republicans--the same group of people who are now boasting that things are working so well here. Well, Mr.…”