Political Quotes

“when I first came to Washington, considering running for the Senate, I went to a Republican luncheon, and they asked me to say just a thing or two, not that long, and I said: I could think of no greater honor than to represent the people of Alabama in the greatest deliberative body in the history of the world. This is a great deliberative body. That is our heritage, and it is being eroded. It is not disputable that it is being eroded. It is being eroded in a way that is faster and more significant than any of us seem to understand. Like the frog in the warming water, we do not realize we are being cooked and that the freedoms of Americans are being cooked. This bill contains another provision that constricts the ability of a minority in the Senate--it could be Democrats or Republicans or just a bipartisan group who do not represent a majority but have a concern--to have those concerns heard and dealt with, and it is very significant. I wish it were not so. I was shocked it was in the bill. I had no idea it would be in the bill. As Senator Graham just indicated, this started out as a bipartisan, bicameral conference, and Senator Ayotte and Senator Graham and Senator Wicker and I were members of the conference. We met and had a couple of public meetings where everybody talked, but no legislation, no language was laid out. The next thing we heard: The conference leaders are drafting a bill--I would say affectionately, a gang of two this time.…”