Congress Quotes - Page 37

• During President George W. Bush's two terms, you couldn't drive far without seeing a particular bumper sticker: Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Now that Democrats control the White House and Congress, the left treats dissent as the lowest form of treason.

  Monica Crowley

  Two, White, House

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• In the liberal imagination, the money is the government's by default, and the president and Congress determine through the tax code how much to give back to the people.

  Matthew Continetti

  Government, People, Giving

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• Whether on the floor of Congress or in the boardrooms of corporate America or in the corridors of a big city hospital, there is no body of professional expertise and no anthology of case studies which can supplant the force of character which provides both a sense of direction and a means of fulfillment. It asks, not what you want to be, but who you want to be.

  Elizabeth Dole

  Character, Mean, Cities

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• In a democracy, hostage tactics are the last resort for those who can’t otherwise win their fights through elections, can’t win their fights in Congress, can’t win their fights for the Presidency, and can’t win their fights in Courts. For this right-wing minority, hostage-taking is all they have left – a last gasp of those who cannot cope with the realities of our democracy.

  Elizabeth Warren

  Fighting, Winning, Reality

  "Elizabeth Warren: ‘Hostage Taking’ Is All Republicans Have Left" by Paige Lavender, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 1, 2013.

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• The case may very well be that Congress is willing to restrict campaign contributions because it has these privileges. It is true that incumbents normally get larger contributions than their challengers. The opponents at least get some money, but they do not have access to the perquisites of the incumbent.

  Gordon Tullock

  Campaigns, May, Opponents

  "Government Failure: A Primer in Public Choice".

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• Congress has turned its back on America's working families. There are Teamster families in every congressional district in America, and those families vote. Those who would oppose these families have done so at their own political peril.

  James P. Hoffa

  America, Political, Done

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• ... scientists have made no clear effort to become an important, independently active force of mankind. Whole congresses at a time, they back away from the suffering of others; it is more comfortable to stay within the bounds of science.

  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  Science, Suffering Of Others, Effort

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• The real reason to abolish departments like Energy and Education is not to promote efficiency, nor even to save taxpayers’ money. It is that many agencies perform functions that are not Federal responsibility. The founders delegated to the Government only strictly defined authority in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. Search the entire Constitution, and you will find no authorization for Congress to subsidize the arts, finance and regulate education or invest tax revenues in energy research.

  David Boaz

  Art, Real, Responsibility

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• Lobbyists are in many cases expert technicians and capable of explaining complex and difficult subjects in a clear, understandable fashion. They engage in personal discussions with Members of Congress in which they can explain in detail the reasons for positions they advocate. Because our congressional representation is based on geographical boundaries, the lobbyists who speak for the various economic, commercial, and other functional interests of this country serve a very useful purpose and have assumed an important role in the legislative process.

  John F. Kennedy

  Country, Fashion, Important

  "To Keep the Lobbyist Within Bounds". The New York Times Magazine, February 19, 1956.

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• Only perhaps in the United States, which alone of countries can do without governing,every man being at least able to live, and move off into the wilderness, let Congress jargon as it will,can such a form of so-called Government continue for any length of time to torment men with the semblance, when the indispensable substance is not there.

  Thomas Carlyle

  Country, Moving, Men

  Thomas Carlyle (2014). “The Selected Works of Thomas Carlyle”, p.638, Lulu.com

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• Congress should not be like the Super Bowl where you have to have one team that's going to win and another team that's going to be a loser.

  John Breaux

  Team, Winning, Politics

  "FOX News Sunday" with Chris Wallace, www.foxnews.com. December 12, 2004.

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• Let me make it clear that I do not assert that a President and the Congress must on all points agree with each other at all times. Many times in history there has been complete disagreement between the two branches of the Government, and in these disagreements sometimes the Congress has won and sometimes the President has won. But during the Administration of the present President we have had neither agreement nor a clear-cut battle.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Cutting, Government, Agreement

  Franklin D. Roosevelt's campaign address to the Republican-for-Roosevelt League in New York City (November 3, 1932), as quoted in "The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1928-1932" (p. 857), 1938.

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• The two great political parties of the nation have existed for the purpose, each in accordance with its own principles, of undertaking to serve the interests of the whole nation. Their members of the Congress are chosen with that great end in view.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Party, Views, Two

  Calvin Coolidge (2001). “The Price of Freedom: Speeches and Addresses”, p.348, The Minerva Group, Inc.

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• The intelligence community, for the most part, has no accountability at all; to the Congress, to us the American people, and so they feel that they above the law.

  Gloria Naylor

  Law, People, Community

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• But I made one mistake which I would never repeat as a member of Congress when I was in Washington, and that was when I was elected I didn't go on trips because I was so afraid of having someone accuse me of taking junkets.

  Geraldine Ferraro

  Mistake, Goes On, Made

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• I mean to say that Congress can hereafter decide whether any states, slave or free, can be framed out of Texas. If they should never be framed out of Texas, they never could be admitted.

  William H. Seward

  Mean, Texas, Framed

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• A President and his wise men can only propose; but Congress disposes. It is when President and Congress agree that American history marches forward.

  Theodore White

  Wise, Men, Democracy

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• I agree with just about everyone in the reform debate when they say "If you like what you have, you should be able to keep it." But the truth is that none of the health reform bills making their way through Congress actually delivers on that promise.

  Ron Wyden

  Promise, Reform, Bills

  "The Choice Should Be Yours" by Sen. Ron Wyden, www.huffingtonpost.com. November 16, 2009.

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• Congress should consult experts and consider alternatives and make 100% sure that any step it takes to police the Internet doesn't change the Internet as we know it.

  Ron Wyden

  Police, Experts, Alternatives

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• The officers of Congress, may come upon you now, fortified with all the terrors of paramount federal authority. Excisemen taxmen may come in multitudes; for the limitation of their numbers no man knows. They may, unless the general government be restrained ... go into your cellars and rooms, and search, ransack, and measure, everything you eat, drink, and wear.

  Patrick Henry

  Men, Numbers, Taxation

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• I've thought about it, not a lot, but I thought my relationship with Congress - the Democrats and Republicans - would help me get some things done. Not everything, but at least they'd be willing to try.

  Bob Dole

  Trying, Done, Helping

  "Bob Dole: Great American" by Jeanne Marie Laskas, www.gq.com. June 25, 2012.

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• Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of sXXXch, or the right of the people peaceably to XXXemble, and to peXXXion the government for a redress of grievances.

  Marc Rotenberg

  Government, Law, People

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• I think Congress has spent enough time on ethics. I think it's time they moved on to something else.

  Richard M. Nixon

  Thinking, Enough Time, Moved On

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• I understand the chairman of the Senate Ethics comittee is going to examine the check-bouncing scandal with a microscope. ...makes sense... If you're going to look at ethics in Congress, a microscope is what you need.

  Jay Leno

  Needs, Looks, Politics

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• I believe in the absolute separation of church and state and in the strict enforcement of the Constitution that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

  Al Smith

  Believe, Exercise, Law

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