Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am going to speak for about 5 minutes on the effort to finally, once and for all, eliminate secret holds in the Senate. Senator Grassley, my partner in this effort for a decade, will also speak. Then, two colleagues on our side who are a part of this large, bipartisan coalition, Senator Whitehouse and Senator Bennet, and who also have done very good work along with Senator Grassley, Senator Inhofe, and Senator Collins, who have been part of a bipartisan coalition, will take just a few minutes. Let me also express my appreciation to the chairman of the committee, Senator Dodd, Senator Durbin, and others who have been so helpful. This bipartisan amendment will abolish the secret hold in the Senate, which, in my view, is a violation--an indefensible violation--of the public's right to know. With a secret hold, any Senator can block a piece of legislation or a nomination in secret simply by telling the leader of their party of their desire. This means that one person, without any public disclosure whatsoever, can keep the American people from even getting a peek at what is public business. When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton said: ``That's where the money is.'' In the Senate, secret holds are where the power is. With a secret hold, one of the most powerful tools a Senator has to affect the lives of our people can be exercised anonymously. In 2007, the Senate sought to eliminate secret holds.…”