Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to thank my other colleague from Washington (Mr. Heck) for having this Special Order. I didn't know Governor Gardner that well. We come from different political parties. That's one reason why you don't probably build a close association. But also my last 2 years in the legislature was his first 2 years as Governor, so I don't have the special relationship that Mr. Heck and Mr. McDermott had with him. But the one characteristic that I did realize with him has been talked about a great deal by my colleagues, and that is that he was a very friendly guy. When Mr. Heck was on the floor just a moment ago saying, as a clerk, you know, he'd call him into his office and treated him like an equal. And I found that characteristic the same in my 2 years when I was in the legislature with Mr. Heck, or with Governor Gardner, even when we were the minority party at that time. But probably the story that I remember best on a personal note dealt with my daughter. In the Washington Legislature, and I assume other legislatures are the same way, when sine die comes, it is done at precisely the same time. And the doors of the House Chamber are open, the doors of the Senate Chamber are open, and the joint rules require that the gavel drop at the same time. So, you know, it has to be organized and so forth. And my oldest daughter happened to be a page on that sine die. It was going to be my last sine die, as a matter of fact.…”