Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, let us focus on what happened here. A judge in New York allowed a consent decree as part of a settlement of a corruption charge against the Teamsters Union. That 1989 consent decree said that the Teamsters would pay for the 1991 election; the American taxpayer would pay for the 1996 election. Mr. Chairman, rightly or wrongly, the families of this country did pay tens of millions of dollars out of their pockets for an election in 1996. Is it their fault the Teamsters and the Federal Government could not conduct an honest election? No. It is not the fault of the American taxpayer, and it is not their responsibility to clean up the mess. They have lived up to their end of the bargain, and it is time for Congress to stand up and prevent the taxpayer from being fleeced by forcing them to pay for a rerun election. The taxpayers funded an election for a private union. The election was filled with unethical behavior. That is it. The Teamsters had their bite of the apple, and this amendment would guarantee that taxpayer funds would not be wasted again.”