Political Quotes

“I have publicly stated my feelings about Trent Lott on a number of occasions since he indicated he was going to retire by the end of this year. We had a lovely reception for him in the Mansfield Room. Other people have their own views as to the strengths of Trent Lott, but having worked with him here on the Senate floor for these many years, his greatest attribute can best be summarized by the statesman Edmund Burke: All government . . . every virtue and every prudent act--is founded on compromise . . . That is not negative. That is positive. Compromise is something we as legislators must do. Legislation is the art of compromise. That is what we have been taught, and that is the way it is. There is no better example of that than what we have before us now or should have in a short time from the House, the omnibus spending bill. That has been the epitome of compromise by legislators and by the White House as the executive. That is what Trent Lott did best, approaching a difficult issue, trying to figure a way out of it. No one who has ever legislated and gotten a bill passed with their name on it has had what they really started out to do. We all must compromise. That is a negative term in some people's mind, but it really isn't if you are a legislator. The special skill Trent Lott has, the special kind of understanding and pursuit of the common good, requires us to find common ground. Trent Lott embodies that skill. He is a true legislator.”