Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, the gimmick nature of this whole thing I won't elaborate on. It's been done before. The fact that this provision of withholding pay from Members of Congress is unconstitutional as it varies Members' pay is obvious. The argument that withholding pay for a year and a half or a year and three-quarters is not varying compensation. It is constitutionally laughable and beneath respect. Secondly, this is institutionalized bribery and extortion. It should never be considered. What this provision says is if you vote the way we think you ought to vote, you'll get paid. If you vote the way we think you should not vote, you will not get paid. That's why we have this provision in the Constitution. We should not be bribing Members. We should not say to a Member that if you think the budget before you is not good for the country, vote against it and you won't get paid; if you think it's not good for the country, you better vote for it because you have a mortgage payment coming due. How dare we. Finally, the last thing we want to do is say to people thinking of running for the Congress, if you're not a millionaire, don't run because there's no guarantee you'll be paid.”