Political Quotes

“you know, the President was right when he addressed us on Tuesday night: Congress cannot be for sale. We cannot have the appearance that Members of Congress are for sale. Imagine, if you would, if we keep going the direction we are, Members of Congress looking like race car drivers with various parts of our anatomy adorned with the corporate logos of those companies who come here to lobby; your sleeve could say IBM, the other sleeve could say AT&T, you could have a ballcap on that would say General Motors, or a tie that would flash Gannett. This is the whole idea. I could see the House, or Congress, in fact, could end up looking like Three Rivers Stadium with corporate banners hanging from the backs of the galleries. We must first act voluntarily so that Members say Congress is not for sale, and they do not accept those gifts. Next we must enact strong legislation. Last year the House voted on two separate occasions by margins of 3 to 1, yet on January 4, the first day of this Congress, it was the Democrats that moved to impose the tough gift restrictions and royalty limits, but not one single member of the opposition party would join us in that, and I know there are Members over there, if they give it a second thought, would be much stronger.”