Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a moment to address something the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), my very good friend, had to say about what is not in the bill. Again, as another speaker referenced, I always believe you look at legislation according to what is in the bill and don't worry about what is not in it. Make the judgment on what is there. The reality is, in this bill we keep the government open. My friends favor that. I hope they vote that way tonight. In this bill we provide badly needed aid to Americans that are suffering in a disaster. I know my friends favor doing that. I hope they vote accordingly tonight. As several speakers have mentioned, we provide much-needed assistance to America's rural economy. I hope my friends actually support that as well with a positive vote tonight. I also want to point out, and I speak now not as a Republican or a Democrat but as an appropriator: I for one think these very good ideas that people have ought to generally move to the floor as separate bills. One of the reasons people distrust this institution is because we quite often pile things on bills that are totally unrelated. Everything that my friends on the other side and I negotiated in the appropriations area is actually in this bill and actually as negotiated. I think it is unfortunate--and we do this on both sides, so I am not trying to score political points, but as I said, I am speaking as an appropriator.…”