Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Inhofe for the sensible nature of his words in terms of the difference between a Presidential and a congressional earmark. I think the Senator brought good sense to this, and I appreciate his words. Amendment No. 1481 Madam President, I rise in support of amendment No. 1481, cosponsored by Senator Merkley, our amendment to the STOCK Act. I thank Senator Gillibrand for her good work on managing this legislation. USA Today had an editorial from Tuesday that said: If lawmakers were really concerned with ethics, they'd put their equity holdings in blind trusts, so they wouldn't have the obvious conflict of interest that comes from setting the rules for the companies they own. Banking committee members wouldn't invest in financial institutions, Armed Services Committee members wouldn't invest in defense contracts, and energy committee members wouldn't invest in oil companies. How simple is that? How straightforward is that? How right is that? These stories simply don't reflect well on the world's greatest deliberative body. Most of us think these investments don't affect our decisions here, and they probably don't, but isn't it time we held ourselves to a higher standard? Senator Merkley and I are proposing the Putting the People's Interests First Act as an amendment to the STOCK Act.…”