Political Quotes

“the only person here was Senator McConnell--and that is what the Republicans have done during the illness of Senator Johnson has been exemplary. There have been occasions when, for partisan advantage, the minority could have taken advantage of the majority as a result of Tim being incapacitated. That was never done, even though there were opportunities to do that. As I said this morning, I personally appreciate that. I know the Johnson family does. More importantly, Mr. President, the American people do. This is the Senate, and I will always remember during the past 8 months as we have waited for Tim to return how--I repeat--the Republicans never once tried to take advantage of his illness. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Mr. President, Tim Johnson is a fourth generation South Dakotan. I want to underline the fact that John Thune and Tim Johnson remind me of Harry Reid and John Ensign, because we too had a very difficult race for the Senate, and it ended up very similar to the Thune-Johnson race. But we have set those differences aside and now are friends. Above all, I say to my friend John Thune, I admire and appreciate what you have done in helping Tim in his absence and for being the person who would not allow anything to be done that would in any way harm Tim Johnson on a partisan basis. Thank you very much, John.”