Political Quotes

“Mr. President, across the Nation, Americans wonder if Washington is working for them. Congress's approval rate, as we know so well, is an abysmal 13 percent, 12 percent--different surveys--but not very good. One factor contributing to this distrust is the sense that elites in Washington are using their positions to get ahead financially. Members of Congress have the privilege and the honor of being elected to serve the public. Unfortunately, some elected officials have used the information they have acquired through service to the public--and I might put service to the public in quotation marks--to enrich their stock holdings. That is wrong. Public servants should not receive financial benefits for the votes they cast or the issues they work on. That is why I appreciate the work Senator Gillibrand, Senator Lieberman, and Senator Collins are doing in this legislation. How many articles do we have to read about the appearance of impropriety on the investment decisions of lawmakers and their staff? In a Washington Post article from June of 2010, Taxpayers for Common Sense said: By being on a committee with a particular jurisdiction, they're in a better position of influencing the performance of their investments, or at least appearing to have that ability. I am not saying my colleagues do that. I think perhaps some do.…”