Political Quotes

“I had not intended to speak this morning, but I arrived in the midst of the discussion of an issue which I think is very central to our federalist system of government. The Nation depends upon our States and local governments to deliver some of the most basic services that protect the security and advance the well-being of our people and our Nation as a whole. We just had a dramatic demonstration of that with what happened after September 11. While there were a number of Federal personnel involved, the front line, the first responders, the people who lost their lives in the collapse of those buildings serving the public interest were largely employees of State and local governments. We know, and we all applaud the importance of education for the future of our Nation. That is predominantly a State and local responsibility. What we are talking about today is the capacity of State and local governments to have sufficient control of their sources of revenue to continue to provide those very services.”