Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I agree with the Republican leader that our leader on this issue for years now in the Senate has been the Senator from North Dakota, and North Dakota is a big energy-producing State--second, I must point out, to my State of Texas, but they are making some rapid developments in that area, and a lot of Texans have gone temporarily to North Dakota to help them with the technology, and they are doing a great job. Believe me, it is creating a lot of jobs. These aren't minimum wage jobs, these are high-paying jobs. As a matter of fact, there are labor shortages, and what we need to do is train more people to qualify for these good, high-paying jobs. But I wonder whether the Republican leader--or really I would be interested in anybody's point of view--beyond the election, I think there are going to have to be some changes of heart on the other side of the aisle, because as the distinguished Senator from North Dakota pointed out, we have gotten close, but never quite achieved that 60- vote goal. So if we are going to vote on this now as a result of the intervening election, there are going to have to be some folks on the other side of the aisle who are going to have to have a change of heart and vote for the bill, which I hope they do. But this has been the main impediment--no opportunity for a vote-- because the majority leader, Senator Reid, has refused to grant a vote up until this point. He has changed his mind. That represents progress.…”