Political Quotes

“I appreciate the leadership he has shown on this and in our committee. Let me take this opportunity to discuss the link between the two subjects that the gentleman has been discussing: the mess we have with growing amounts of red ink in the budget and the mess we have with special interest money here in Washington. Today is truly historic. During my entire career in Congress no one has succeeded in securing the signature of 218 members on a petition to discharge a bill for the House to act on. Since 1993, it has just not happened, and rarely has it happened in the entire history of this Congress. Today, this historic step is taken; and it is closely related to what we have been talking about this last hour, because the reason we confront much of this mess is a direct result of special favors purchased by special interest lobbyists who come up here to avoid paying their fair share of taxes and ask to be treated in a different way than all the rest of us. We can do something about the entire agenda of this Congress by approving this campaign finance bill.”