Political Quotes

“Madam President, I appreciate the thoughtful remarks from my friend and colleague, the distinguished Senator from Illinois. He and I have worked together on many issues. We don't agree on everything, but when we do agree, it is a lot of fun. We are able to do a lot of great things together. I appreciate his leadership on the Judiciary Committee and the fact that he has always been friendly toward me. I also appreciate his reference to our sort of civics aspect of what we do. The notion of how a bill becomes a law is always, always instructive. It is always helpful to bring that up. You know, we have lost some of that in our system, and people get confused as to how laws are made. Of course, the very first operative provision of the Constitution-- article I, section 1--has only one clause, so it is clause 1. The very first language after the preamble says that all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Remember, legislative powers are lawmaking powers, meaning all power to make law--to make Federal law--is vested in this body and the body with which we share the legislative power just down the hall, the House of Representatives. Article I, section 7 elaborates on this function and makes clear yet again that you cannot make a Federal law without following this formula.…”