Quotes on Congress

We have some Jewish members of Congress, not a lot but there's a bunch of us.

Author: Gary Ackerman

A Bush Administration will, I believe, enjoy a better relationship with the new Congress, although President-elect Bush will be faced with real challenges in getting along with the Congress.

Author: Richard Allen

'Favoritism' is always a factor, and pressure always build for the appointment of friends of influential supporters of the President, or for the nominees of powerful Member of Congress from the incoming President's party.

Author: Richard Allen

Well, what I tried to do is simply to get out on the land. And when I came to Washington, I think one of the mistakes we made early on was kind of having an ideological dispute up in the Congress.

Author: Bruce Babbitt

What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?

Author: Marion Barry

But in this Congress, accountability is just a catch phrase, usually directed elsewhere. Demands to personal responsibility or corporate accountability abound, but rarely congressional accountability or fiscal responsibility.

Author: Melissa Bean

If George W. Bush is given a second term, and retains a Republican Congress and a compliant federal judiciary, he and his allies are likely to embark on a campaign of political retribution the likes of which we haven't seen since Richard Nixon.

Author: Paul Begala

You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him think.

Author: Milton Berle

The atmosphere is different in Congress after September 11. Terrorism is no longer an abstract issue, but a real, tangible threat.

Author: Howard Berman

As parties began to develop around the turn of the 19th century, you had party nominees for President nominated in caucuses made up of party members in Congress.

Author: Michael Beschloss

I make a prediction here and now, and, my friends, I want you to watch the proceedings of Congress in these coming weeks of this extra session, or of the next regular session, to see whether I am right or not.

Author: Richard Bland

I feel kind of like the black sheep in Congress, but here I am.

Author: Sonny Bono

Every citizen of this country should be guaranteed that their vote matters, that their vote is counted, and that in the voting booth, their vote has a much weight as that of any CEO, any member of Congress, or any President.

Author: Barbara Boxer

I put myself and all the members of Congress in the same boat of things that could have been done better.

Author: John Breaux

Every proper exertion has been made and will be continued to carry out the wishes of Congress in relation to the tobacco trade, as indicated in the several resolutions of the House of Representatives and the legislation of the two branches.

Author: Martin Buren

Congress is not an ATM.

Author: Robert Byrd

Each year thousands of embryos, no bigger than the head of a pin, are created in the process of in vitro fertilization, with the support of Congress, by the way.

Author: Lois Capps

Congress has not raised the minimum wage since 1997. The minimum wage is now at its lowest level in 50 years adjusted for inflation.

Author: Russ Carnahan

Clean air is a basic right. The responsibility to ensure that falls to Congress and the president.

Author: Thomas Carper

Anytime a large, emergency spending bill makes its way through Congress, the potential for mischief is great.

Author: Chris Chocola

It is statesmanlike for the administration and Congress to look to our nation's welfare beyond their terms in office.

Author: Nick Clooney

Congress is functioning the way the Founding Fathers intended-not very well. They understood that if you move too quickly, our democracy will be less responsible to the majority.

Author: Barber Conable, Jr.

Many hard comments have been made on my efforts in India from the side of the Congress party, yet I feel content in the deep conviction that the offer I traveled 22,000 miles to discuss with Indian leaders was a real contribution to a solution of our differences.

Author: Stafford Cripps

As we enter into the 110th Congress, it is imperative that we address ethics reforms needed to make this institution run correctly.

Author: Jo Davis

With scientific advances, Congress must now make changes to reflect new therapeutic options.

Author: Nathan Deal

One of my top priorities in Congress is to reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels.

Author: Lincoln Diaz-Balart

The Congress has now become a fairly evenly divided entity.

Author: John Dingell

I have said, with respect to authorization bills, that I do not want the Congress or the country to commit fiscal suicide on the installment plan.

Author: Everett Dirksen

Obviously, overall infrastructure needs on the Southwest and Northern borders are mounting. We need a major push in Congress to remedy this.

Author: Pete Domenici

This resolution is further proof that Congress stands firmly behind our troops and remains resolved to pursue those responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, until they are discovered, detained, and punished.

Author: John Doolittle

Every day President Bush and Congress refuse to fulfill their obligation to special ed is another day Wisconsin property taxpayers are stuck with the bill. It's unfair, irresponsible and must stop.

Author: Jim Doyle

I would not have a woman go to Congress merely because she is a woman.

Author: Crystal Eastman

We have to remind the people: Congress has the constitutional obligation and public responsibility to oversee these issues and the Department of Justice's operations.

Author: Sibel Edmonds

And I am saying, how about the other two branches? And putting the pressure on our representatives in the Senate and the Congress, and the court system. They should be counter-acting this corruption, but they are sitting there silent.

Author: Sibel Edmonds

Serving in Congress has been the honor of a lifetime.

Author: Bob Ehrlich

There were speeches made in Congress in the very last session before the outbreak of the Rebellion, so ferocious as to show that their authors were under the influence of a real frenzy.

Author: Edward Everett

What five members of the Supreme Court say the law is may be something vastly different from what Congress intended the law to be.

Author: Benjamin Fairless

The Republican Party is in charge. They've been charge of the Congress and spending for 10 years.

Author: Chaka Fattah

If a trip is worth taking, members of Congress should be prepared to justify paying for it out of their office accounts.

Author: Russ Feingold

In the first 50 years of the filibuster, it was used only 35 times. But the last Congress alone had 112 cloture motions filed, plus threats of more. This is the tyranny of the minority.

Author: Peter Fenn

I was a trial lawyer when I was elected to Congress.

Author: Geraldine Ferraro

Congress should be forward thinking in the policies we set, instead of waiting until catastrophe looms.

Author: Bill Frist

I submit to you, Mr. President of Congress, my formal resignation as president of the republic.

Author: Alberto Fujimori

It has been a top priority of Congress to reduce the drug costs of all seniors.

Author: Paul Gillmor

The salary of a member of Congress ends the day that he of she leaves office.

Author: Virgil Goode

The retirement system that is in place for members of Congress and other federal workers features what is known as the Federal Employment Retirement Plan.

Author: Virgil Goode

During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.

Author: Al Gore

Congress will pass a law restricting public comment on the Internet to individuals who have spent a minimum of one hour actually accomplishing a specific task while on line.

Author: Andy Grove

The Middle East is literally going up in flames, as is California, and Katrina's problems haven't been solved, and Congress' response is to criticize Federal judges.

Author: Alcee Hastings

While Congress can't overturn the Supreme Court, we can provide carrots and sticks to prevent local governments from unfairly taking property from landowners.

Author: Stephanie Herseth

We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex - but Congress can.

Author: Cullen Hightower

Talk is cheap - except when Congress does it.

Author: Cullen Hightower

The mistakes made by Congress wouldn't be so bad if the next Congress didn't keep trying to correct them.

Author: Cullen Hightower

Now back in those days, to become a rural mail carrier you had to be approved by congress.

Author: Betty Hill

There has been a growing consensus across the country - from statehouses to the White House and the halls of Congress - that we need to take dramatic steps to improve our secondary schools.

Author: Ruben Hinojosa

I don't mind what Congress does, as long as they don't do it in the streets and frighten the horses.

Author: Victor Hugo

I don't believe in lobbying only progressives and liberal members of Congress. I don't believe in doing interviews only with those who share my views. I want to reach a wider audience.

Author: Bianca Jagger

Members of Congress must live according to the same laws as everyone else.

Author: Bobby Jindal

If they're willing to stand at polls for countless hours in the rain, as many did, then I should surely stand up for them here in the halls of Congress.

Author: Stephanie Jones

Illegal immigration presents a huge problem. That is why I decided to spend a week along the southern border to see firsthand how bad the problem is and, more importantly, what Congress can do to fix it.

Author: Ric Keller

Finally, we need more Border Patrol agents. Although Congress has already tripled the number of Border Patrol agents since the late 1980s, more are still needed.

Author: Ric Keller

The Prescription Drug Benefit we passed in Congress is already working to make prescription drugs available and affordable for all seniors who depend on them, through the drug card that became available last year.

Author: Mark Kennedy

I would rather be known as 'Jim Kolbe, the trade expert in Congress who happens to be gay,' rather than 'Jim Kolbe, gay congressman from Arizona.'

Author: Jim Kolbe

Sometimes Congress likes to milk an issue.

Author: Steve Largent

Copyrights have not expired, and will not expire, so long as Congress is free to be bought to extend them again.

Author: Lawrence Lessig

Though Congress continues to explore possible solutions to ensure social security solvency, everyone must take personal responsibility to prepare their own retirement savings accordingly.

Author: Ron Lewis

We must continue our fight to ensure that Federal, State, and local authorities have the resources and support necessary to combat this growing epidemic. This is a top priority for me and many of my colleagues here in Congress.

Author: Ron Lewis

I have seen the times when the grassroots has moved the Congress. We listen way more often to our constituents than the lobbyists. And the grassroots are going to have to do it.

Author: John Linder

The voters in my district, and around the country, have demanded that Congress get a hold on the influx of illegal immigrants and tighten the security around our borders.

Author: John Linder

The arts are an even better barometer of what is happening in our world than the stock market or the debates in congress.

Author: Hendrik Loon

Congress requires states to draw single-member districts.

Author: Thomas Mann

Unfortunately a Constitutional amendment that would have empowered Congress to make desecration of the United States flag illegal failed to pass by one vote.

Author: Kenny Marchant

The administration still wants to govern from the far-left and that's going to produce kind a partisan result here in the Congress.

Author: Mitch McConnell

There have been high crimes and misdemeanors, but they have been committed by the special prosecutor and the Congress, not the president.

Author: Donella Meadows

The worst excesses of the Congress of the 1980s pale in comparison with what is going on in Washington today.

Author: Marty Meehan

It is the utmost necessity that this congress be a congress of unity.

Author: Slobodan Milosevic

I continued to serve in Congress until 2001.

Author: David Minge

We cannot go up on a wire. We cannot do a search without a judge on the FISA Court approving it and determining that we have met the standard that has been set forth by Congress in order to utilize these techniques.

Author: Robert Mueller

The pro-growth policies of Congress have helped created new jobs in the region and across the country.

Author: Tim Murphy

If Congress doesn't raise taxes, you cannot get a private investment account without forgoing a portion, possibly all, of your guaranteed benefit check.

Author: Grace Napolitano

Border security is a complex issue and will remain a top priority during the 2007 legislative year. As Congress works to fix this problem, I will continue to push for strong measures that beef up security at our borders.

Author: Randy Neugebauer

I'm no lady; I'm a member of Congress, and I'll proceed on that basis.

Author: Mary Norton

This Congress has promised all manner of border security and port security to the tune of billions of dollars... yet we have - to date - funded our promises for port security at only $900 million. That's quite a distance between what we say and what we actually do.

Author: Solomon Ortiz

The airheads of Congress will keep their own plush healthcare plan - it's the rest of us guinea pigs who will be thrown to the wolves.

Author: Camille Paglia

I think President Obama is trying to deceive the public in pretending that he was not a part of Congress that has made some decisions in the past that got us to where we are today.

Author: Sarah Palin

I said what I said before Congress because I meant every word of it.

Author: Rafael Palmeiro

We need to be calling out the flaws and misguided decisions of the Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration.

Author: Timothy Pawlenty

We should go forward in courts and Congress with investigations into post-9/11 interrogations and the decisions leading to them.

Author: Christine Pelosi

We in Congress stand by Israel. In Congress, we speak with one voice on the subject of Israel.

Author: Nancy Pelosi

We're sad about some of the losses of members of great seniority and distinction in the Congress, and some very new members, who will no longer be serving with us.

Author: Nancy Pelosi

There is more selfishness and less principle among members of Congress than I had any conception of, before I became President of the U.S.

Author: James Polk

Newt Gingrich's job to capture the Congress was to give Republican candidates an edge and a distinction from their Democratic opponent. That required a very high profile, some very strong language.

Author: Pete Pont

As a Member of Congress from one of the fastest growing States in the country, we hire close to 2,500 new teachers a year, close to 5,000 support staff and faculty.

Author: Jon Porter

As a member of Congress, and a parent, I understand the importance of ensuring that families are able to provide a meaningful and proper burial for their loved ones.

Author: Jon Porter

I have also come to understand Congress' need for a bipartisan as well as a partisan capacity.

Author: David Price

Congress needs strong parties, but it also needs the capacity to deal with budget and entitlement challenges that are likely beyond the reach of pure partisan exertion.

Author: David Price

I would like to see this group in this Congress be starting the process to get ourselves on long term fiscal strong footing.

Author: Ben Quayle

I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.

Author: Ronald Reagan

I came to Congress to help reduce spending.

Author: Dave Reichert

Increased and better screening for explosives is necessary - and Congress should fund it and TSA should implement it as quickly as possible - however that screening doesn't reduce the risk posed by a trained terrorist with an unconventional weapon.

Author: Dave Reichert

Congress seems to believe that 'Children are our future' is a phrase coined by tobacco advertisers.

Author: Jef Richards

It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-biased media and the homosexuals who want to destroy all Christians.

Author: Pat Robertson

We're committed to working with Congress to doing what the president said he was always going to do, which is cut the deficit in half over the - over his first term.

Author: Christina Romer

It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose.

Author: Franklin Roosevelt

I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also.

Author: Theodore Roosevelt

Don't divide the world into "them" and "us." Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours.

Author: Donald Rumsfeld

Give a member of Congress a junket and a mimeograph machine and he thinks he is secretary of state.

Author: David Rusk

Because the Bush Administration will set no timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, both chambers of Congress acted to make sure our troops will not be left in Iraq indefinitely.

Author: Jan Schakowsky

Our runaway judiciary is badly in need of restraint by Congress.

Author: Phyllis Schlafly

Congress should pass legislation to remove from the federal courts their jurisdiction to hear these outrageous challenges to the Ten Commandments and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Author: Phyllis Schlafly

All too often in tough economic times, it is the environment that gets left on the cutting room floors of Congress as everyone scraps for limited federal dollars.

Author: Debbie Schultz

They're calling their Washington sources at the NRC or in Congress and they're not hesitating to give their opinion, but their opinion, frankly, in those early days was not very well informed.

Author: William Scranton

As the 109th Congress continues to debate legislation that will affect the lives of immigrants, it is important for us to remember that we are a nation of immigrants.

Author: Jose Serrano

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.

Author: William Seward

It was an attempt to stick the Congress's finger in King Hussein's eye.

Author: George Shultz

Well, I think the best thing we can do for the short term is move good energy legislation through to the Congress; I'm encouraged that there's some prospect for that now.

Author: John Snow

It's an embarrassment that we don't have a broad enough consensus among political leaders that true reform should take place. I could count the members of Congress on one hand that took these issues seriously.

Author: DeForest Soaries

I found that there is very little interest in Washington for true election reform. That neither the White House nor either house of the Congress seems to be as committed to guaranteeing democratic participation in this country as we seem to be in other countries.

Author: DeForest Soaries

In early January I introduced my legislation, which, besides prohibiting Federal funding of human cloning, also expresses the sense of Congress that foreign nations should establish total prohibition on human cloning as well.

Author: Cliff Stearns

I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a congress.

Author: Peter Stone

The timing was terrible, and having one disaster after another didn't help. I think the pictures on television of the way in which the disaster was handled also helped to turn off the public and Congress.

Author: Billy Tauzin

I ran for Congress, just once.

Author: Shirley Temple

When it comes to helping make the country strong, we in Congress have an important role to play.

Author: Mac Thornberry

The political status legislation which emerged in Congress in 1990 and 1991 did not receive the support needed for enactment into law during my tenure as Attorney General.

Author: Dick Thornburgh

Internal self-government under a local constitution was authorized by Congress and approved by the residents in 1952, but federal law is supreme in Puerto Rico and residents do not have voting representation in the Congress.

Author: Dick Thornburgh

They all agree, they are all unanimous in Congress, in the States, on the rostrum, in the sanctuary - everywhere they declare that slavery shall not go into the Territories.

Author: Robert Toombs

Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

Author: Mark Twain

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

Author: Mark Twain

No issue is more important to this Congress than securing our borders and protecting our homeland, and I guarantee it is very important to our constituents.

Author: Ginny Waite

Since President Bush took office in 2001, this Congress has supported an agenda of democracy, freedom and expansion of rights for all peoples throughout the world.

Author: Ginny Waite

I don't think the only place to fight for freedom is in the halls of Congress.

Author: Malcolm Wallop

The old Court you and I served so long will not be worthy of its traditions if Nixon can twist, turn and fashion If Nixon gets away with that, then Nixon makes the law as he goes along - not the Congress nor the courts.

Author: Earl Warren

That's what mayors do. They lobby Congress to provide resources for their city.

Author: Maxine Waters

I wonder much that a court of Law should be in doubt whether a Resolution of Congress can superceed the Law of a Sovereign State.

Author: William Whipple

It is true that the poet does not directly address his neighbors; but he does address a great congress of persons who dwell at the back of his mind, a congress of all those who have taught him and whom he has admired; they constitute his ideal audience and his better self.

Author: Richard Wilbur

Congress would exclude slavery from any territory that in the future might be acquired from Mexico.

Author: David Wilmot

Congress's definition of torture in those laws - the infliction of severe mental or physical pain - leaves room for interrogation methods that go beyond polite conversation.

Author: John Yoo