Political Quotes

“First of all, I want to thank my good friend from Oregon for coming to the floor and for, frankly, more ably explaining the Customs portion of this legislation than I could. I want to commend him and his colleagues for working in a bipartisan fashion to improve a bill that had passed earlier this year in ways that I think broadly make it more acceptable to a larger percentage in this body. He is to be commended for that. So are his colleagues on that committee on both sides of the aisle. So is the administration, which I know has been heavily involved in these deliberations. I think my friend makes an excellent argument for the passage of the underlying legislation. When you combine that with a permanent prohibition on Internet taxation--something I assume my friend also supports--and the necessary continuing resolution to give us a few more days to negotiate a bipartisan omnibus spending bill that, frankly, both parties will need to contribute votes toward and that the administration ultimately will have the prerogative of signing, I take these to be hopeful signs. With some of the things that have happened in the last few weeks on a bipartisan transportation bill and on a bipartisan education bill and with what I am convinced is essentially a bipartisan conference report here today and with what will be a bipartisan omnibus bill, it sounds to me like significant progress.…”