Byron Dorgan Quotes

#1. I can describe, and I've always been able to describe, what Republicans stand for in eight words, and the eight words are lower taxes, less government, strong defense and family values.

Byron Dorgan

#2. I am not someone who believes we should build a fence around our country but I do believe there ought to be some fairness with respect to the rules of this globalization.

Byron Dorgan

#3. I don't feel responsible for things I didn't vote for.

Byron Dorgan

#4. When businesses face tough times, one of the first items they cut is overhead expenses. The government should do the same.

Byron Dorgan

#5. This country is about, in my judgment, aggressive, open debate. There is an old saying: When everyone is thinking the same thing, no one is thinking very much.

Byron Dorgan

#6. The U.S. Constitution is the basic framework for the greatest democracy on Earth. Some of my colleagues find it easy to amend it. I don't.

Byron Dorgan

#7. We need leadership, and we need it now.

Byron Dorgan

#8. Working hard and working smart sometimes can be two different things.

Byron Dorgan

#9. When we ask American men and women in uniform to fight for this country and to defend this country's interest and then to send them overseas, there is no question we have an obligation to protect them and provide for their safety.

Byron Dorgan

#10. When farmers and ranchers are confronted by weather-related disasters that are beyond their control, we need to do something to help.

Byron Dorgan

#11. Is there decency left in American politics?

Byron Dorgan

#12. Nowhere in this country should we have laws that permit drinking and driving or drinking in vehicles that are on American highways. This is not rocket science. We know how to prevent this, and 36 states do.

Byron Dorgan

#13. I am proud to be in the Senate. I have always been proud to be a part of our political system. It is a remarkable privilege to participate in this system of ours.

Byron Dorgan

#14. There is no social program in this country that is as important as a good job that pays well, that gives someone an opportunity to go to work, have some security, have benefits, and take care of their family and have a good life.

Byron Dorgan

#15. I came into American politics and into this political system proud of politics and the way we make decisions.

Byron Dorgan

#16. Only in this town, where we make an industry out of creating euphemisms, can we have enough sugar to sugarcoat this nonsense.

Byron Dorgan

#17. If the Administration does nothing, high gasoline prices will continue to increasingly burden our economy, taking millions of dollars out of the hands of families and putting it straight into the pockets of OPEC.

Byron Dorgan

#18. All of us aspire to give our children something more, leave a country to our children that is a better one, a stronger one, with better jobs and growth and opportunity.

Byron Dorgan

#19. As far as I know, we have never before decided to fight a war with borrowed money and ask generations that come after us to pay for it.

Byron Dorgan

#20. You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility.

Byron Dorgan

#21. This galloping concentration in broadcast ownership is unhealthy.

Byron Dorgan

#22. If you talk about preemption you better know things rather than think things.

Byron Dorgan

#23. This country needs to get a backbone and stand up for its economic interest.

Byron Dorgan

#24. People habitat has to take priority over bird habitat.

Byron Dorgan

#25. One of the keys to ensuring accountability is to have civil servants who witness fraud, waste and abuse to blow the whistle.

Byron Dorgan

#26. The taxpayers deserve accountability.

Byron Dorgan

#27. President Eisenhower saw it coming, and it is here. Patriotism no longer exists among many of these corporations. Some companies have more economic clout than entire countries. They can make or break a politician.

Byron Dorgan

#28. The Bush Administration and the Congress have to stop ignoring this crisis in international trade. The longer we ignore it, the more American jobs will move overseas. It's just that simple.

Byron Dorgan