Political Quotes

“I think about how I have had a chance to work with my colleague in the Oregon delegation, Senator Smith. We have gotten judge after judge confirmed because we have felt, while some consider it quaint, that you ought to try to work in a bipartisan way. We have not applied an ideological litmus test. I think what the Senator from Florida is saying is that is the kind of approach we ought to be pursuing, to try to find common ground to get the Senate together. As I begin my comments this morning, I will say that I think a lot of Americans look at what is going on now on the floor of the Senate and say that it is sort of like the great wall of China, an almost impenetrable barrier surrounding a forbidden community where their voices just go unheard. I know what I hear from my constituents--I have open community meetings in all of Oregon's counties--is awfully different than essentially what the Senate has been doing through the night. For example, what I hear about is how medical costs are just gobbling up everything in sight. I hear, for example, about how the crushing small businesses, scores of them dying to cover their people, have been unable to do it. I hear about providers, physicians, and others leaving the system because of inadequate reimbursement.”