Political Quotes

“In dealing with highly complex and technical legislation, two requirements seem to me to be essential. The first is that those who have an interest in the legislation and have conflicts among themselves over what is most desirable, express their views so that Members can evaluate conflicting arguments and attempt to reach the truth. Each of these interest groups gives lip service to the consumer interest and to competition, but it is only by testing the groups' competing ideas against one another that the consumer interest and competition can truly be served. That has clearly been the case in connection with the many year debate over telecommunications legislation. There were myriad interest groups. They had highly conflicting interests. I believe that we have reached good accommodations in connection with almost every one of those conflicts. But the second and even more important requirement for dealing with legislation of this type is that the Members who deal with the issue in the committees, and particularly those who are in charge, keep the public interest as their objective.”