Political Quotes

“Madam President, turning back to the topic at hand--a serious question for all of us. The Health and Human Services Secretary plays a vital role in the well-being of every citizen in this country and is extraordinarily powerful in every respect. It has to do with science, medical research, cancer cures. It has to do with the delivery of healthcare and trying to deal with the very complex and very expensive healthcare system we have. It has to do with trying to create priorities for the administration of our healthcare system. I think all of us, every single one of us, takes very seriously the advice and consent constitutional responsibility that we have when it comes to voting on a Presidential nominee. I start out with the proposition that a newly elected President is entitled to the benefit of the doubt, so my beginning position is my hope that I can be supportive. But saying that I want to give the benefit of the doubt to the President, Republican or Democratic, is different than saying I want to give a blank check. So how do we decide--or at least I will say how do I decide about a yes or no? It is three matters for me. One is character, one is competence, and one is their priorities. So character, competence, and priorities. Now, character is a difficult issue to assess, and I think all of us are reserved when it comes to making an opinion or judgment on the character of another person.…”