Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I didn't want to take a lot of time before the vote because I knew we were anxious to get it done, and certainly we have been through this so many times--passing a transportation bill and a reauthorization bill. I was asked by one of my Republican Members: We have done so many of these extensions, what would be the difference between an extension and a short 2-year bill? I commented: You can't get any of the improvements. You can't do any of the planning. I would also like to say this to my Republican friends: I regret some of them voted against it, not being fully aware of some of the great reforms we have in the bill. I appreciate the fact that Senator Boxer was agreeing to some aspects that she didn't agree with philosophically, such as some of the streamlining and enhancements. We have now resolved the enhancement problem so decisions can be made by the States. So I think that was good. I wanted to at this point mention our staff, even though I already mentioned Ruth VanMark earlier. I was kidding when I said she is off of probation. She has been loyal to me for 22 years and been through several of these bills with me. Let me also mention James O'Keeffe, Murphie Barrett, Kyle Miller, Dimitri Karakitsos, and Alex Renjel. So we have a great team over here, and, of course, they have a great team also on the Democratic side, with Bettina Poirier, David Napoliello, Andrew Dohrmann, Grant Cope, and Tyler Rushforth from Senator Boxer's office. So, Mr.…”