Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I appreciate the frustration of the Senator from Michigan at the Senate not functioning the way it should. But really her complaint ought to be with the majority leader. Republicans are happy to have an open amendment process. I say to the Senator from Massachusetts that we are not talking about amendments ad infinitum. We are talking about a reasonable amount of amendments. We have been down this lane before. We know that the majority leader rules this body with an iron grip. In the waning days now of this session, there is going to be veritably nothing done, because, of course, that is the way the majority leader has chosen to use his authority. It would make sense if we had an opportunity to offer House legislation. As I said, there are 44 different jobs bills and more than 385 bipartisan pieces of legislation that have passed the House which would be great for us to take up and to work our way through in an orderly and deliberative sort of way. I agree the American people want to see us get things done. But they cannot. We cannot get things done when the majority leader essentially says: You know what. It is my way or the highway. Those of you who are elected from red States, where you are elected by Republicans, you cannot participate in this process. So what is the use of being elected to the Senate? What is the use of States such as Texas having two Senators and not being able to participate or shape the legislative process?…”