Quotes by Arlen Specter

• If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine.
• The fundamental purpose of government is to protect its citizens.
• The essence of a democracy is a free electorate.
• Voting is fundamental in our democracy. It has yielded enormous returns.
• We are not utilizing the Iraqi oil for U.S. purposes. We are not asking that the Iraqi oil be used to pay our military expenses. We are asking only that the Iraqi oil be used to rebuild Iraq - that is, to rebuild Iraq for the Iraqi people.
• When the students are occupied, they're not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.
• If you are going to have to play defense all the time, you cannot have the kind of ingenuity, assertiveness, independence, and intelligence which is what has made our country strong.
• I must say I am not pleased to have to arrange the Senate schedule around the availability of Senators who are running for President.
• Effective security measures do not come cheap.
• There is no doubt that our nation's security and defeating terrorism trump all other priorities.
• As I think through the issue of funding the rebuilding of Iraq, I think about the analogy of a bankruptcy proceeding. There is no doubt that Iraq as a country is bankrupt.
• Heart disease continues to be the number one killer; cancer, the number 2 killer, not far behind. The tragic aspect of these deadly diseases is that they could all be cured, I do believe, if we had sufficient funding.
• As a matter of traditional and sound constitutional doctrine, an amendment to the Constitution should be the last resort when all other measures have proved inadequate.
• American credibility in the war on terrorism depends on a strong stand against all terrorist acts, whether committed by foe or friend.