Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Colorado. I ask unanimous consent that 7 minutes of morning business be added to each side and at the end of that time, the Senate stand in recess as provided for under the previous order. I thank my colleagues on the other side for their courtesy. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from Alaska. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues on the floor today to discuss what none of us are the least bit happy to see happening in the U.S. Senate. We were sent here by the people of our States to get work done. This means passing legislation and overseeing the work of Federal agencies. It is difficult, if not impossible, for Federal agencies to do the work Congress and the American people want them to do if they spend months--in some cases, years--leaderless. It is impossible for them to do their work if they can hope that a momentary peace will break out in the Senate to allow for confirmation of the presidential designee for their respective agency. As Senators, we are endowed with a constitutional responsibility to lend our advice and consent to the men and women a President nominates to run agencies and parts of agencies. Career civil servants can do a lot. We would be lost without them. But they do not have the authority, or the accountability to Congress and the American people to accomplish what a President selects them to do.…”