Political Quotes

“First, I thank my colleague from Louisiana for letting me butt in a little bit. I also praise the three people who are on the floor, one can say without each of whom this would not have happened. I don't think we can say that about anyone else here, myself included, but you can say that about these three. Senator Menendez, our lead sponsor on the bill, who is indomitable and smart about crafting legislation; Johnny Isakson, who was able to make this a bipartisan bill and in his gentle, friendly, and persuasive way brought many people on board, prevented people from blocking it; and the dynamo--we would all agree--the dynamo of this operation, Senator Mary Landrieu, who did not quit. I would say Mary Landrieu and I have had probably 200 phone calls in the last month about flood insurance--three or four a day. Whenever there was a blockage, she was like a jackhammer getting through it. So I thank her. I am going to be very brief as well--not quite as brief as my colleague from Georgia, but brief for me and brief for the Senate. This is a very important day for the people of New York. We have thousands of homeowners who either have had their flood insurance rise or are fearful of their flood insurance rising. Most of them are middle-class people in places such as Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Rockaways, out to the southern shore of Long Island and up the Hudson River. To be a homeowner is to have your little piece of the rock if you are a middle-class person.…”