Political Quotes

“So, Mr. President, I say to my colleagues, I come to take the floor today to say that in these last 7 or 8 weeks of the session, when there is so much important work to be done, let us make sure that the procedural rights of the minority are protected, let us get away from this unfortunate practice we have seen in the last few weeks of literally cutting off the debate almost as soon as it starts, and let's take the kind of approach that folks in my home region, the Pacific Northwest, take, and that is a bipartisan one. I believe that it is possible to get some important work done in these next 7 weeks, to get a welfare reform bill. We have done that in Oregon. Senator Hatfield, my senior colleague, has done yeoman work in terms of our jobs plus program. It has a tough work requirement, but we are also helping with child care and medical care. That kind of bipartisan approach can be an ideal model for helping the Senate to come together, Democrats and Republicans, to reform the welfare system in the last few weeks of this session.”