Political Quotes

“Madam President, a few minutes ago, Chair Janet Yellen was approved by the Senate Finance Committee to be Secretary of the Treasury by an extraordinary 26-to-0 vote. I have seen times around here in the Senate where you come away convinced you couldn't get 26 to 0 among Senators to buy a soda. I want to thank Senators Grassley and Crapo for working very closely with me and Senate Democrats to achieve this remarkable vote this morning. The fact is, Janet Yellen has been confirmed by this body four times. She really belongs in the Senate confirmation hall of fame, and the reason that she has been confirmed all of these times is because of what we saw at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday. She did a superb job. After the hearing, she responded in a substantive way to hundreds of questions that came from colleagues and has made a real commitment to transparency. Now, I know that Senators are working on a variety of issues now, but I would like to say that I think, given the urgency of the economic challenge our country faces, in a truly perilous economic time, I would very much like to work with all of my colleagues, particularly Senators Crapo and Grassley, to find a way to, today, bring up Chair Yellen for confirmation to be our Secretary of the Treasury. I want to say I very much appreciate the conciliatory way this was discussed today, and I really hope the Senate can vote on her nomination today. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER.…”