Political Quotes

“Thank you, Madam President. I thank my colleague from Illinois for his courtesy and I thank the Senator from Arizona for his outstanding remarks, as usual. For 21 hours, we have heard the Senator from Texas hold forth. What has he accomplished? He has alienated many of his own colleagues. He has taken 21 hours unnecessarily, although he is entitled to speak when he wants, because the vote would have occurred whether he said 10,000 words, 1 word or no words. So as Leader Reid said, this was not a filibuster. But, most of all, he has shown the American people what he is willing to do. We all know the Senator from Texas has very strong views about ObamaCare. Fair enough. That is why we have a Senate. There is a time and a place to debate them. But he, in his view that he is right and everyone else is wrong, is willing not only to hold forth on the Senate floor in a meaningless exercise, but, more important, urge his colleagues to hold the American people hostage until everyone agrees with his view. He wants to hold the cancer patient hostage who will not get NIH treatments if the government shuts down. He wants to throw the construction worker out of work who is doing a job that is federally funded and will not be funded if the government shuts down.…”