Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is hardly breaking news that this is December 20--5 days before Christmas, a day celebrated by 2 billion people throughout the world. It is also the last day of the 118th Congress, and there is no better time than the present to take stock of what we have done or not done this last year. Students around the country wrapped up their semester, and they have come home with a report card to show their parents the grades they have earned in things like math, science, English, and other subjects. Of course, report cards are a helpful metric of advancement--or not, as the case may be. It is also a means to hold people accountable--where they are excelling, where they need to improve. Here in the Senate, I think it is important to issue the Democratic majority a similar report card-style evaluation. People may wonder: Well, why would it just be of the Democratic majority and not the Senate as a whole? Well, obviously each of us represents our respective State, but there is one important difference: Only the majority leader, the Democratic majority leader, sets the Senate's schedule. That means we consider bills that only he calls up for consideration. No one else in the Senate--not the other 99 of us--can schedule bills for votes. That also means that what he does not schedule on the Senate's calendar is not considered, including bills that have passed the House, even by broad bipartisan majorities.…”