Policy Debate Quotes

• We must shift the energy policy debate in America with an increased focus on alternative and renewable fuels and Congress must pass meaningful alternative fuels and incentive programs to help move the U.S. away from dependence on foreign oil.

  Rick Renzi

  Meaningful, Moving, Oil

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• A debate actually is a policy issue but I will say this - gosh, if you guys ask one more mean question, I may have to leave the stage.

  Ted Cruz

  Mean, Issues, Guy

  "The Kelly File" with Megyn Kelly, www.foxnews.com. January 28, 2016.

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• Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryan, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King - indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history - were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. To say that men and women should not inject their "personal morality" into public policy debates is a practical absurdity.

  Barack Obama

  Religious, Kings, Men

  "Leith Anderson, Russell Moore, Other Faith Leaders Ask Obama to Reject Gov't Report Saying Religious Freedom Is Code for Discrimination" by Anugrah Kumar, www.christianpost.com. October 12, 2016.

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• Politics has become a game of meaningless, mindless battles, conducted by unscrupulous methods and people, designed to transform even the most serious policy debates into sport.

  Al Gore

  Sports, Games, People

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• Most of my work for the past 25 years has been devoted to organizing demonstrations, benefits and campaigns, many of which have had the effect of bringing a policy debate to public focus or moving a political agenda forward. It's become a cliché to say 'think globally and act locally,' but it works.

  Peter Yarrow

  Moving, Past, Thinking

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• I think it's really unfortunate that academics have been sidelined in most important policy debates.

  Juan Cole

  Thinking, Important, Debate

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• By maintaining the separation of church and state, the United States has avoided the intolerance which has so divided the rest of the world with religious wars.

  Barry Goldwater

  Religious, War, Years

  Remarks in the Congressional Record, www.nytimes.com. September 15, 1981.

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• The overarching issue, as I see it, is the elitism of America's political system; the fact that regular, ordinary Americans aren't considered in policy debates or legislation, and regularly get shafted by the powers-that-be in Washington.

  Jerry Springer

  America, Issues, Political

  "Democratic Veteran". Interview with Jo Fish, June 23, 2003.

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• While having policy debate, we need to hold the race in a way to attract people toward the DPJ.

  Seiji Maehara

  Race, People, Needs

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• There's no telling what might have happened to our defense budget if Saddam Hussein hadn't invaded Kuwait that August and set everyone gearing up for World War II. Can we count on Saddam Hussein to come along every year and resolve our defense-policy debates? Given the history of the Middle East, it's possible.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  War, August, Years

  P. J. O'Rourke (2007). “Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government”, p.168, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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