Political Quotes

“I was walking down the sidewalk in a small town in my district recently, and an older woman in a wheelchair called to me. I went over and sat down and talked with her for a while. During the course of that conversation, she said to me, ``Congressman, I wish you would just chew up the IRS and spit it out.'' I asked that sweet, gentle, older woman why she felt as strongly as she did, and she said, ``I believe the IRS contributed to my husband's death because they hounded him,'' and she said, ``It didn't bother me as much as him because I'm a tough old bird.'' I walked away thinking that it is sad that any American would ever feel that way about an agency of our Government. And so I came to the floor today mostly to say thank you to my Ohio colleague [Mr. Portman] for all the work he has done on this. I know many have worked on this legislation. This may be the most significant piece of legislation directly affecting the lives of American citizens that this Congress deals with.”