Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I will take a couple of brief moments. First, let me thank my friend, the Senator from Illinois. No one has spent more time and also, candidly, taken a more courageous position in these discussions around avoiding this fiscal cliff. For some, for political or other reasons, these are challenging discussions. But no one more than the Senator from Illinois has been willing to put more on the line, has been willing to take more heat and has more represented this whole notion of putting country first on an issue that I think is the defining moment of our time. I thank my friend, the Senator from Illinois. I appreciate all he has done. I think history will actually show in many ways that the original framework of the so-called Gang of 6--I think it is only in Washington where when people try to work together they are immediately designated as gang members--but particularly the low-income protections the Senator of Illinois made sure we had in our bipartisan agreement that reduced the deficit by more than $4 trillion will stand as the high water mark. I commend him for his work. I want to say as a relatively new Senator and one who is still trying to learn the rules and procedures, I also always thought that if someone filibustered a bill they had to stay on the floor and make that case.…”