Political Quotes

“I simply acknowledge that no one has been more eloquent or consistent in their position that this is not appropriate legislation. From the very time that I entered this body I have known that the distinguished Senator, who was then chairman of the Appropriations Committee, felt that this was not a proper allocation of power under the Constitution, that it should be reserved for the legislative body. It was not appropriate to give this to the executive branch. We have a disagreement on that matter in terms of the distribution of power, but as to the interpretation of the Constitution, I suspect that the Court will probably ultimately verify or validate the distinguished Senator's views and this debate may be moot. My concern today, and I accept the Senator's view that nothing in West Virginia is included, but I am concerned if there were 69 of us, if that indeed is the count, who were willing to vote for the line-item veto and now come back simply because there is an item in our States and say we are against it because it happened to gore the ox in our pasture, then we are not maintaining the kind of principle that most Members of this legislative branch believe in in all the other dealings they take part in.”