Political Quotes

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, Bob Dole, whom we all knew and still know and who is a wonderful man, said: ``As we all learn around here, if you don't keep your word, it doesn't make much difference what agenda you try to advance.'' So it is very difficult for me to allow Senator Thune's bill to advance today. I have great respect for him, and that is without any question. I am still waiting, though, on Republicans to keep a promise they made nearly 18 months ago on the Senate floor. They came to me and said: It is so important to John Kyl, whom I also like, from neighboring Arizona. They had somebody whom they wanted to put on a very important commission. I didn't want to do it because I thought it was fair that we had somebody to pair with him. That is what we do around here. That is what Senator McConnell has done, and I respect that. But I said: Give me your word, and we will go ahead and do this. No problem, I got their word--Senator McConnell and Senator Thune. They said they would do it as soon as the new Congress started. That is almost 2 years ago, and this woman is in limbo. There is an extremely important vote now before the Commission dealing with top boxes on television sets, and she has not been confirmed in that job. It is wrong. I brokered that agreement between McConnell and Thune. I didn't want it. It wasn't my idea--it was theirs--to confirm Republican Commissioner Michael Riley, the Kyl person, to a 5-year term in the FCC.…”