Political Quotes

“I have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks and listening last night to the Senator from Texas make a big point that Members of Congress in his opinion were not listening to the American people. I have a lot of experience listening. As a physician that is what I got paid to do. I think the motives of Senator Cruz and some of his allies in the Senate are pure. Their tactics are tremendously erroneous, in my opinion, but I want to draw a picture for you in a minute about this idea of listening and what it means. Even though I disagree with their tactics, I admire their spirit and their vigor. Having delivered 4,000 babies, I have had a lot of sleepless nights. I have gone 2 or 3 days with 2 or 3 hours of sleep over that period of time to care for people. But I would make this point: As a physician, the first thing you are taught in medical school is to listen to your patient and they will you what is wrong with them. So we do have to spend time listening to our constituencies. But doctors don't just listen to the patient. They observe the patient, they examine the patient, they do tests on the patient, and then can combine all that listening with all the other data they have collected, and then they make a decision about giving advice to that patient. They give what is called informed consent. That is the big story that hasn't been told to the thousands and thousands of people from Oklahoma who have called my office.…”