Political Quotes

“Madam President, I would say to my friend the people who came before us thought achieving consensus was good, not unanimity, perhaps recognizing it is impossible to get 100 Senators to agree. So I would say to my friend I sometimes am as frustrated as he is when one or two or three or four Senators say: We are going to force this to a cloture vote because we are just not going to agree. I think that is frustrating to all of us, depending on which foot the shoe is on. But I would say that is a small price to pay, that frustration, to insist on assuring the rights of the minority--again, not because of an individual Senator because we aren't all that important. It is the rights of our constituents whom we represent that are so important, and it is so important we get it right because there is nobody else after we get through who gets to vote. It becomes the law of the land, and unless it is unconstitutional not even the Supreme Court of the United States can set it aside. So it is very important we get it right. I am just saying that we take the time necessary, and I think that is what the rules are designed to provide for.”