Congressional Quotes

#1. I am most grateful for having bad eyesight, which prevented me from becoming a commercial pilot and instead, led me to having the best job in the world - representing the people of California's 47th Congressional District.

Loretta Sanchez

#2. Police officials routinely execute search warrants on private homes and offices, and Congressional offices should not be treated any differently. There cannot be one set of rules for elected officials and another set of rules for everyone else.

Bobby Jindal

#3. Every congressional committee that does an investigation has documents, papers and things that it collects in the course of that investigation - the backup to everything it does.

M. Stanton Evans

#4. Any Congressional agreement of an arbitrary time table to bring our troops home before we have accomplished our mission is unacceptable and could potentially increase the risk to our soldiers.

James T. Walsh

#5. I was in federal prison in West Virginia for three months for contempt of Congress for a refusing to comply with a request of a Congressional committee of Congress, the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Howard Fast

#6. For the most part, congressional Republicans represent people who are whiter, older and richer than most Americans, and our creaky old political system gives those Americans disproportionate influence over public policy.

Alex Pareene

#7. The question companies have to ask, or governments have to ask is, where do we allow crazy ideas to bubble up? Because if there is a failure, what happens? Someone gets blame. There's a lawsuit, there's a congressional investigation. And so, those things shut down the creative engine.

Peter Diamandis

#8. They cannot count on the press and they cannot count on Congressional committees to bring the problems of the scientific community to their own attention, or to police the scientific community.

Serge Lang

#9. In the absence of full-fledged Congressional investigations, American policymakers rarely look back. They are bound by continuity and fealty across administrations and generations.

Samantha Power

#10. In 1980, a young Senator Al Gore held the first Congressional hearings on global warming.

Eric Schneiderman

#11. A foreigner coming here and reading the Congressional Record would say that the President of the United States was elected solely for the purpose of giving Senators somebody to call a horse thief.

Will Rogers

#12. Congressional mistakes have dramatically increased immigration through a series of what I believe were ill-advised actions going back to 1965 when the basic notions of our immigration laws were revised. In 1990, Congress opened the floodgates by passing a 35-percent increase in legal immigration.

Ronald Reagan

#13. I believe there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party. It's called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Allen West

#14. You had 42 blacks that ran on the Republican ticket this Cycle, 14 made of them made it to the general election and two of us made it to the House of Representatives. So I think that there is a new movement that needs to have a voice in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Allen West

#15. In my opinion, we need to again consider the possibility of public funding of congressional elections, following the very successful experience with clean money systems in Maine and Arizona.

Russ Feingold

#16. Pentagon's readiness and modernization problems are not due to budget cuts. The are the result of habitual modes of conduct evolved during the Cold War and a desire by the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex (MICC) to protect its comfortable life style in a world that is changing rapidly.

Franklin C. Spinney

#17. We absolutely need to reform the Congressional budget-writing process.

Patrick McHenry

#18. At one congressional hearing, Bishop Francis Kalabat complained that administration officials are overlooking what's happening to his fellow Chaldean Christians.

Tom Gjelten

#19. I think the only way that political system can be corrected is for the American people to see very vividly that it needs repair. If things are going to worse in the future, the American people, in every congressional district in the land, might demand that reforms take place in the political system.

Jimmy Carter

#20. Serving in Congress is the great honor of my professional life. I am deeply grateful to the people of the 4th Congressional District for placing their trust in me.

Dave Camp

#21. I don't think people want to see someone buy a congressional race.

Frank R. Wolf

#22. Large companies and government agencies have a lot to protect and therefore are not willing to take big risks. A large company taking a risk can threaten its stock price. A government agency taking a risk can threaten congressional investigation.

Peter Diamandis

#23. As a lobbyist, I was completely against term limits, and I know a lot of people are against term limits, and I was one of the leaders, because why? As a lobbyist, once you buy a congressional office, you don't have to re-buy that office in six years, right?

Jack Abramoff

#24. From the 12th Congressional District Hopeful William Jefferson Clinton during the Nixon investigations.
I wanted to share some information I've turned up regarding two of your Clinton quotes.

Keith Richards

#25. The big journals and Nobel laureates are the equivalent of Congressional leaders in science journalism.

Michael Pollan

#26. Dan Moldea, the lead investigator for Larry Flynt's ongoing quest to uncover sexual indiscretions of Republican congressional members, has now admitted he was hired by the law firm defending President Clinton.

Jerry Falwell

#27. If you look at the studies coming out of the Congressional Budget Office, the number one thing that's going to blow a hole in the deficit as we go forward 20, 30 years is government spending on healthcare.

Christina Romer

#28. This bill attempts to make sure that President Clinton is not allowed to do by Executive Order what Congress has declined to enact in the past two congressional sessions namely, to treat homosexuals as a special class protected under various titles of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Jesse Helms

#29. All one has to do to get one's stuff in the Congressional Record is to find a stenographer that can stay awake long enough to take it down. Then you mark in the 'Applause' and 'Laughter' parts yourself.

Will Rogers

#30. The people of Florida's 2nd Congressional District said, 'Steve, go up there and fight to change the culture in Washington.' I've taken their instructions very seriously.

Steve Southerland

#31. When I was elected, I was the youngest member of the Tennessee congressional delegation; now, I'm one of the oldest. In fact, I have members of my staff who weren't even born when I took office. That tells me it's time for a new chapter.

Bart Gordon

#32. The American people will be appalled to learn the health care bill exempts (congressional) leadership and committee staff.

Tom Coburn

#33. The cost of congressional and presidential campaigns has been leaping every two or four years. I think this year it will be 60 percent more than 1996; well over twice as much as in 1992 in the presidential and congressional races.

Robert McChesney

#34. The Congressional Black Caucus is a moral fraud. It's amazing how many people are afraid of saying that

Dennis Prager

#35. The whole process of getting licenses to broadcast, which took place decades ago, was done behind closed doors by powerful lobbies, and wealthy commercial interests got all the licenses with no public input, no congressional input for that matter.

Robert McChesney

#36. A lot of people don't understand how cargo coming into our ports matters, not just to Southern California but to every single congressional district. I want to educate on that issue.

Janice Hahn

#37. But I will tell you that I didn't go to Washington to sit around and wait for Congressional action. Never done that before, and don't plan to in the future,

Gina McCarthy

#38. Texas' and America's farmers are suffering. As the Member of Congress representing the 10th Congressional District of Texas, I have traveled throughout our area and have seen first-hand how the drought has affected our agricultural communities.

Michael McCaul

#39. The law limits anyone from serving as president of the United States for more than eight years. And in my opinion - well, eight years is also long enough for an individual to serve as a representative for a specific Congressional district.

Michele Bachmann

#40. Disease does not recognize congressional districts or party affiliation.

Steve Kagen

#41. There's a lot of politics over who gets the next allocation of Congressional funding.

Rebecca MacKinnon

#42. Yes, I introduced the congressional pay cut bill, cutting our salaries by five percent. And I think we have to lead by example.

Ann Kirkpatrick

#43. An imposing wall prominently divides the visions of President Obama and congressional Republicans when it comes to economic growth and creating jobs. Solyndra is on one side and the Keystone pipeline is on the other.

Fred Upton

#44. The NSA routinely lies in response to congressional inquiries about the scope of surveillance in America.

Edward Snowden

#45. Scientists believe that monkeys can be taught to think, lie and even play politics within their community. If we can just teach them to cheat on their wives we can save millions on congressional salaries.

Jay Leno

#46. The Congressional Budget Office tells us that Medicare spending has increased fivefold in the past 42 years, dramatically more than all other categories of federal spending.

David Limbaugh

#47. A constitutional amendment for congressional term limits could never achieve the blessing of Congress; it could be initiated only by the states.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

#48. Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly has been disturbed over what he sees as the erosion of presidential powers since the Watergate scandal and has urged Bush to take a stronger stand against what Cheney sees as congressional intrusions into the executive branch.

Helen Thomas

#49. The truth is that no internal reviews or congressional hearings will change the Secret Service's broken management culture. It needs better leadership.

Ronald Kessler

#50. I think the media loves taking the most absurd clips for a sport that has become congressional politics.

Kal Penn

#51. The Affordable Care Act reduces the deficit considerably. I would simply point out to you that the Supreme Court has spoken, the American people have spoken, congressional leaders of both parties have spoken, and we're going to continue with implementation.

Jay Carney

#52. As a rule of thumb. Congressional legislation that is bipartisan is usually twice as bad as legislation that is partisan.

Thomas Sowell

#53. The Congressional Prayer Caucus has worked successfully to advocate for and protect values that are fundamental to the fabric of our nation, and I'm honored to serve as co-chairman.

James Lankford

#54. Choose your words carefully. The only place you can take back what you said is the Congressional Record.

Ron Brackin

#55. While floor statements from today's [congressional] representatives are typically delivered to empty galleries and published into unread oblivion, legislative debates in the Reconstruction era were widely disseminated and closely observed.

Andrew Buttaro

#56. Congress has turned its back on America's working families. There are Teamster families in every congressional district in America, and those families vote. Those who would oppose these families have done so at their own political peril.

James P. Hoffa

#57. Alabama seniors all across the Third Congressional District continue facing high drug costs.

Mike Rogers

#58. I have long been a supporter of the Head Start program because each and every year I witness the dramatic positive impact that early intervention services have on children's lives in my congressional district.

Lucille Roybal-Allard

#59. Any online gamblers here? Well, Congress is looking in shutting that down.There's going to be a massive congressional investigation of online gambling and they're going to shut it down. And when they get done with that, they're going to look into this North Korean thing.

David Letterman

#60. The framers understood that the president, as the head of our armed forces, must defend the nation from imminent threat. But when the mission shifts from defense to offense, congressional approval is essential.

Tim Kaine

#61. As a personal beneficiary of the service that Amtrak provides and as someone who represents a congressional district that counts on safe, reliable rail service, I am a strong supporter of providing this vital industry the funding necessary to continue operations.

Tim Bishop

#62. I am proud to represent New York's 13th Congressional District, which has one of the largest and diverse populations in the country.

Charles B. Rangel

#63. The Senate has been debased to the level of a forum of hate and character assassination sheltered by the shield of congressional immunity.

Margaret Chase Smith

#64. I told all four [Congressional leaders] that there are going to be some times where we don't agree with each other, but that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.

George W. Bush

#65. Congressional staff members do have a considerable amount of responsibility. But in my experience, the loyalty of the vast majority of staffers to their bosses leads them to be honest brokers of information for the members they work for.

John Harwood

#66. He had a carrying, congressional sort of voice, the kind that sounded good saying things like Less of a tax burden on the middle class and Thank you for your donation and Honey, could you bring me my sweater with the duck on it?

Maggie Stiefvater

#67. My experiences in the military, the private sector, and as a congressional staffer were at times almost enough to drive me crazy. Writing offered the all-too-often-cited creative outlet.

L.E. Modesitt Jr.

#68. Bringing the IRS to heel can start with re-energizing and expanding congressional investigations and holding accountable those responsible for the targeting and other abuses.

Cleta Mitchell

#69. The framers gave us the Second Amendment not so we could go deer or duck hunting but to give us a modicum of protection against congressional tyranny.

Walter E. Williams

#70. I think that no matter whether you're Quentin Tarantino or any other kind of a rebel, or whatever, everyone who makes movies still wants to win an Academy Award, because it's like the Pulitzer Prize or the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Robert Osborne

#71. I think it's very difficult in the first go-round for congressional people and political people to understand the linkages that exist between us and the rest of the world. That we're not insular anymore.

Henry Kaufman

#72. You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor and an A-minus feel like a slap in the face.

Taylor Mali

#73. For me to get out in the congressional district that I represent and see all the things that we manufacture there, produce there, to get to know its people better, its businesses better and its government leaders better, all of those things have enriched me.

Reid Ribble

#74. I've declined every congressional benefit I could decline, federal health insurance, the retirement program, the 403(b) program, which I think is overly generous. I've got self-imposed term limits of six terms if I have the privilege to serve that long.

Scott Rigell

#75. Each congressional race really depends upon the candidates and how they carry the message.

George W. Bush

#76. the congressional ban on the universal patient identifier the single biggest failure in the history of health IT legislation.

Robert Wachter

#77. The Air Force had put out a secret order for its pilots to capture UFOs. For the last six months we have been working with a congressional committee for investigating official secrecy concerning proof that UFOs are real machines under intelligent.

Donald Keyhoe

#78. Moreover, as the leadership of the House confirmed last year, the Administration remains opposed to a congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide due to Turkish objections. This approach sends absolutely the wrong signal to Turkey and to the rest of the world.

Patrick J. Kennedy

#79. Ultimately, Congressional medicine is like veterinary medicine: It must be strong enough to work, and tasty enough to swallow.

Jim Cooper

#80. The ideal weapons system is built in 435 congressional districts and it doesn't matter whether it works or not.

Alain Enthoven

#81. A Congressional Budget Office study estimated that gulf energy infrastructure repair costs will be between $18 billion and $31 billion, just from the damages the hurricane created.

Mark Foley

#82. My family has been in politics a long time in Los Angeles. We very much believe we are elected to represent the people. I mean, I am to give voice to, you know, the over half a million people I represent in my congressional district. I mean, that's the way it works.

Janice Hahn

#83. From the takeover of Detroit and the failed stimulus packages to the enactment of Obamacare, the president and congressional Democrats chose to use Americas economic crisis as an excuse to expand government rather than as an opportunity to responsibly shrink it.

Jeb Hensarling

#84. Now that the midterm elections are over, President Obama has invited congressional leaders from both parties to a meeting at the White House tomorrow. When asked if he's nervous, Obama said, 'Oh, I'm not going to be there. I just invited them over. They can figure it out themselves.'

Jimmy Fallon

#85. Just this week, my husband proposed a plan for schools and libraries to develop their own plans to keep children from finding indecent material on the Internet as an alternative to a Congressional proposal that would require a federally mandated solution.

Tipper Gore

#86. Every one of our congressional offices, every day, is under attack.

Darrell Issa

#87. Books about spies and traitors - and the congressional hearings that follow the exposure of traitors - generally assume that false-negative errors are much worse than false-positive errors.

Malcolm Gladwell

#88. During the 1937 congressional election campaign, Johnson's group probably paid $5,000 to Elliott Roosevelt, one of Franklin Roosevelt's sons, for a telegram in which Elliott suggested that the Roosevelt family favored Lyndon Johnson.

Robert Dallek

#89. One of the first items of Congressional business in 2006 will be an effort to renew the USA Patriot Act.

Roger Wicker

#90. Penn State University is also nationally recognized for the exceptional research and patient care provided at the College of Medicine, located in my Congressional District in Hershey, PA.

Tim Holden

#91. Tax reform and expanded trade are going to be so important to the economy of Illinois, particularly the 11th Congressional District, which is a major manufacturing and a major agricultural district.

Jerry Weller

#92. I believe that successfully addressing our national security needs while protecting our basic freedoms and civil liberties requires continual Congressional oversight, and I will continue to work to assert the role of this body in carrying out this grave responsibility.

Patrick J. Kennedy

#93. Because of our Congressional committee system, our government is closer to a gerontocracy than a democracy.

Charles Frankel

#94. Congressional Republicans themselves have vehemently defended the idea that preexisting conditions should not be used to deny people insurance.

James Surowiecki

#95. Our congressional district is the fastest growing in the state. Nowhere is there a greater need for new and improved roads and transit systems that will spare us the hours we spend each day in traffic.

Judy Biggert

#96. Well, I mean, Congress did originally set the formula for the state grants, and they guaranteed every state a minimum formula. So that was a congressional decision.

Michael Chertoff

#97. Lobbying is a legitimate profession ... Many congressional spouses act as lobbyists.

Patricia Schroeder

#98. What does it say about the college coed Susan Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex?

Rush Limbaugh

#99. Caring for our veterans is the duty of a grateful nation. Unfortunately, the Bush administration and congressional Republicans have not lived up to this duty.

Patty Murray

#100. The Congressional Budget Office is a reactionary socialist institution which does not believe in economic growth, does not believe in innovation, and does not believe in data that it has not internally generated.

Newt Gingrich