Top 100 Arlen Specter Quotes
#1. 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.
Arlen Specter
#3. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,
Arlen Specter
#4. My tenure in the Senate was really as an independent and whichever, regardless of party label.
Arlen Specter
#6. It costs about $27 million to win a seat in the United States Senate, so when you win one, you like to sit down.
Arlen Specter
#7. I have not taken a position on that nuclear option. My view is I'm not going to do anything until I come to that bridge. I'm not going to jump off the bridge until I come to it.
Arlen Specter
#8. No senator's vote, except for the declaration of war or the authorization for the use of force, is more important than the confirmation of a nominee for the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment.
Arlen Specter
#9. Separation of power says the judiciary committee is supposed to confirm qualified judges and then what the Supreme Court does, that is their function, not my function.
Arlen Specter
#11. Neither this nation nor this party can afford a candidate so captive to the demands of the intolerant right that we end up re-electing a president of the incompetent left.
Arlen Specter
#12. It's inspirational to see someone who is dying smile.
Arlen Specter
#13. I'm battling cancer. It's another battle I intend to win.
Arlen Specter
#15. I don't expect people to agree with all my votes.
Arlen Specter
#16. If Romney wants to make me responsible for ObamaCare, I've said I would be proud to be responsible for it.
Arlen Specter
#17. As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party.
Arlen Specter
#18. I've never walked out of a room and had a disagreement as to what was said.
Arlen Specter
#19. It's been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania.
Arlen Specter
#20. Voting is fundamental in our democracy. It has yielded enormous returns.
Arlen Specter
#21. There's nothing more important than our good health - that's our principal capital asset.
Arlen Specter
#23. Today the Internal Revenue Code constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. A flat tax would be an enormous step forward.
Arlen Specter
#24. The American people do not care which Party solves the problems confronting our nation.
Arlen Specter
#25. I think my independence was a big help to getting Judges Roberts and Alito confirmed, and I think that's recognized.
Arlen Specter
#28. When Pat Robertson says there is no constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state, I say he is wrong.
Arlen Specter
#29. I knew people were going to see me see deteriorate before their eyes.
Arlen Specter
#30. When the president acts in absence of a congressional grant of authority, he can rely only upon his own independent powers. When the president takes measures incompatible with the express or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb.
Arlen Specter
#31. If enough people would come out the right wing, the extremists couldn't dominate.
Arlen Specter
#32. I am very much opposed to abortion personally. But I don't think it is the government's rule.
Arlen Specter
#33. When the 14th Amendment, equal protection clause was enacted, the galleries in the Senate were segregated. Now we have integration.
Arlen Specter
#34. I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider. The decider is a shared and joint responsibility.
Arlen Specter
#35. I just was not going to subject my record to the bleak prospects of a primary election.
Arlen Specter
#36. The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision rejected Congress' findings and its method of reasoning, .. Is there any real justification for the court's denigrating Congress' 'method of reasoning'?.
Arlen Specter
#37. 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.
Arlen Specter
#38. There's nothing in the First Amendment that even remotely talks about spending money for political contests, and to say that an individual can spend as much of his or her own money as he or she wants constitutionally without any limitation, I think is just absurd.
Arlen Specter
#40. People in government and public life are being kicked around at a high rate of speed.
Arlen Specter
#41. Look, the president can discharge all 93 U.S. attorneys for no reason at all, but not for a bad reason.
Arlen Specter
#42. It's a rarity when someone takes a political risk in Washington today in the public interest.
Arlen Specter
#43. We're all looking for a plan that will work. The current plan is not working, and 21,500 additional troops
it's a snowball in July. It's not going to work.
Arlen Specter
#46. I think if you can get people to laugh, you can get people to listen.
Arlen Specter
#47. The essence of a democracy is a free electorate.
Arlen Specter
#48. There is just no sensible, logical reason why we would not make use of stem cell research.
Arlen Specter
#50. It is with unwelcome frequency that I find myself the deciding vote.
Arlen Specter
#51. 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.
Arlen Specter
#53. Beating the tea party gang is more important than who does the beating.
Arlen Specter
#54. My definition of winning at squash is playing and surviving, and I've never lost a match.
Arlen Specter
#55. There is no higher value in our society than integrity.
Arlen Specter
#56. When the students are occupied, they're not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.
Arlen Specter
#57. There are conspiracies all over the Senate floor on any day!
Arlen Specter
#58. When I'm asked about legacy, I say it's too early to talk about legacy.
Arlen Specter
#59. There is no doubt that our nation's security and defeating terrorism trump all other priorities.
Arlen Specter
#60. 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.
Arlen Specter
#61. I've been playing squash almost daily for 38 years.
Arlen Specter
#62. But one way or another, judges perform a very vital function in our society. They have a risky job and they are entitled to security.
Arlen Specter
#63. Resolutions are flying like snowflakes around here.
Arlen Specter
#64. Effective security measures do not come cheap.
Arlen Specter
#65. 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.
Arlen Specter
#66. We will submit legislation to the United States Senate which will ... authorize the Congress to undertake judicial review of those signing statements with the view to having the president's acts declared unconstitutional.
Arlen Specter
#68. The First Amendment freedom of religion is as important today as when the Bill of Rights was first written.
Arlen Specter
#69. Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy's statement that sometimes party asks too much.
Arlen Specter
#70. If we had pursued the war on cancer which President Nixon declared in 1970, Jack Kemp might be alive today.
Arlen Specter
#71. 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.
Arlen Specter
#72. My mother, Lillie Specter, was an angel and totally uninterested in politics.
Arlen Specter
#73. The best way to reduce the cost of medical care is to reduce the illness.
Arlen Specter
#74. I am opposed to anybody making a decision for you or me or anybody else about what health care plan we should have.
Arlen Specter
#75. My change in party will enable me to be re-elected.
Arlen Specter
#77. I must say I am not pleased to have to arrange the Senate schedule around the availability of Senators who are running for President.
Arlen Specter
#79. We don't need holy wars. What we need is tolerance and brotherhood and simple humanity.
Arlen Specter
#80. Pennsylvania is a very tough state; people don't last long in Pennsylvania politics.
Arlen Specter
#81. American credibility in the war on terrorism depends on a strong stand against all terrorist acts, whether committed by foe or friend.
Arlen Specter
#82. Strong advocacy for education, health care and worker safety will be indispensable if they are to get their fair share of President Bush's austere budget for the next fiscal year.
Arlen Specter
#84. When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party.
Arlen Specter
#85. I think it's scandalous that we haven't done more to cure cancer.
Arlen Specter
#86. In our social contract, we have provisions that see to it that you take care of people who need some help.
Arlen Specter
#88. My father was an immigrant who literally walked across Europe to get out of Russia. He fought in World War I. He was wounded in action. My father was a great success even though he never had money. He was a very determined man, a great role model.
Arlen Specter
#89. The Republican Party has moved so far to the right, you can't recognize Mitt Romney. What Mitt Romney will appear in October? Mitt Romney has changed positions more often than a pornographic movie queen,
Arlen Specter
#90. Was the Vietnam conflict a war which should have, as a matter of constitutional law, required a declaration of war by Congress?
Arlen Specter
#91. The solicitor general is sometimes referred to as the 10th Supreme Court justice - a pretty important position.
Arlen Specter
#92. Well, I believe that when you are confirming a United States Supreme Court Justice, that it really isn't Democratic or Republican; it's American.
Arlen Specter
#93. Lawyers advocate more so than state their own positions.
Arlen Specter
#94. It has been my experience that the hearings are really, in effect, a subtle minuet, with the nominee answering as many questions as he thinks necessary in order to be confirmed.
Arlen Specter
#95. The Supreme Court has a very light backlog. They leave a lot of splits among the circuits, a lot of uncertainty. And I think they ought to work a lot harder.
Arlen Specter
#96. Americans' addiction to sports, with the NFL at the top, is based on the excitement generated by the potential for the unexpected great play which can only happen with honest competition from great athletes.
Arlen Specter
#98. The fundamental purpose of government is to protect its citizens.
Arlen Specter
#99. Do you believe today that the right to privacy does exist in the Constitution?
Arlen Specter
#100. I don't like labels. I think they conceal more than they reveal, sort of like a bikini.
Arlen Specter
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