I do not know of anybody in leadership in either party that has ever given as strong, as powerful, as cogent, and as compelling a speech as my friend from Maine did. We are not here, any of us, from any State because we own a seat in the U.S. Senate. We are here to take full advantage of the fact that the Constitution gives us 6-year terms so that we can look at things carefully, think them through, and do what is best for the country. If the U.S. Senate is to truly be the conscience of the Nation, as it should be, we should be here voting the same way in an open session on the record as we would if we were voting in a secret ballot. We should be willing to stand up, all of us, all men and women, in this body and do what is right.
On the recordMarch 2, 1994
Source
govinfo.govEditor's note · Context
Praising a colleague's speech on the balanced budget during Senate floor debate.
Share
More from Patrick Leahy
Dec 22, 2022
the Johnson amendment asks us to cede the power of the purse to public servants in the executive branch who are unaccountable to the voters. These public servants, dedicated though they may be, cannot possibly share the depth of knowledge…
Nov 28, 2022
today marks the 1-year anniversary of the election of Xiomara Castro Sarmiento, the first woman to hold the office of President of Honduras. She succeeded Juan Orlando Hernandez who had discredited the office of the Presidency by colluding…
Mar 22, 2023
Congress was the original classification authority (OCA). It let that power essentially slip away to the Executive Branch.





