Quotes About Bipartisan

#1. Sometimes countries have to go through periods of crises and then rediscover why it's important to be bipartisan and compromise and if you haven't had a deep crisis for a while, you feel like you have the luxury of going on your own way.

Robin Wells

#2. They reality is that we have 70% of our voters use a punch card system that I tried to change and that bipartisan resistance in the legislature stopped.

Kenneth Blackwell

#3. I think on this issue more than any other we're going to see sort of a bipartisan longing to get something done, and hopefully you're not going to find the fisticuffs that you would find on lots of other issues. I think you'll be able to glean a sense of progress without us revealing the specifics.

Charles Schumer

#4. If the notion on this is we're going to elect somebody to the United States Senate so they can be the 100th least senior person in there and be polite, and somewhere in their fourth or fifth year do some bipartisan bill that nobody cares about, don't vote for me.

Elizabeth Warren

#5. Whenever a fellow tells me he's bipartisan, I know he's going to vote against me.

Harry S. Truman

#6. Nixon was always willing to be bipartisan, so there are a lot of surprises in the man.

Douglas Brinkley

#7. We have come so far. It's become a real bipartisan cause, which I'm very happy to see. And in the case of America, and it's - certainly, without America, we'd be facing catastrophe.

Elton John

#8. President Obama hosted lawmakers Thursday saying he wanted bipartisan input on health care reform. Nobody's mind was changed. At the summit's end he threatened to go with the nuclear option, showing he's tougher on Republicans than he is on Iran.

Argus Hamilton

#9. The American people know that every day 3,000 kids begin to smoke, 1,000 of them die an early death. They're not going to allow us to go forward this year and not have comprehensive bipartisan legislation. It's in everybody's best interest.

Erskine Bowles

#10. I think you'll find that these are measures that have great bipartisan support, and so I expect, not only did we do well in the primary, I think we'll win by a wide margin in the fall because we're going to get a lot of independents and conservative Democrats coming to us.

Rand Paul

#11. Our Keystone legislation received strong bipartisan support in the Senate. Although it didn't receive the 60 votes necessary for passage, 56 senators - a majority - voted in favor of the bill. Despite President Obama's actively lobbying against the bill, we still won the support of 11 Democrats.

John Hoeven

#12. I am now more sure than ever that we're going to have a bipartisan bill ... making incredible progress.

Mario Diaz-Balart

#13. Joining the Bipartisan Policy Center is a natural extension of my efforts to achieve results throughout my tenure in Congress, and it provides an ideal means for developing strategies that can garner the broad support necessary to achieve real solutions to the challenges confronting our nation.

Olympia Snowe

#14. With the enactment of the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act, we have taken an important step toward achieving federal education policies that will allow students to learn and achieve at the highest possible level.

Sue Kelly

#15. Yesterday I, along with a bipartisan Congressional Delegation of lawmakers, inspected the detention facilities at Guantanamo used to house individuals detained in the War on Terrorism.

Jim Ryun

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

David Price

#17. I don't think he should make foreign policy on the basis of peak,but I don't think it can be overstated that Israel has been an embattled democracy that has enjoyed the bipartisan and overwhelming support of Americans. It has been a moral force.

Mark Shields

#18. It is a bipartisan gathering to be able to pray for the needs back in our districts, for our families and each other. Another thing the prayer caucus does is to address religious liberty issues around the country as they arise.

James Lankford

#19. There are many miles to go before we get this done ... But I have a feeling that ... we're going to have a big bipartisan vote for this in the end. My sense is that people are more optimistic than they've been in 20 years about addressing this problem.

Michael Bennet

#20. It's nice to say let's be bipartisan. But we're a partisan nation. We were raised as a partisan nation.

Colin Powell

#21. If there is a nuclear tactic being used here, I submit it is the use of that obstruction where a willful minority blocks a bipartisan majority from voting on the President's judicial nominees.

John Cornyn

#22. Increasing access to federal student loans has been a bipartisan effort in Washington, one that I have supported. But it has created what many experts believe is a bubble in higher education, not unlike the housing bubble that preceded the financial crisis.

Marco Rubio

#23. With Americans worried about losing their jobs, their savings, their homes and their chance at the American Dream, the New Direction Congress will work in a bipartisan way to lift our economy and help America's middle class.

Nancy Pelosi

#24. Elect us, hold us accountable, and make a judgment and then go from there. But I do tell you that if the Democrats win, and have substantial majorities, the Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan.

Nancy Pelosi

#25. I believe it's time to put our best ideas on the table and work toward a bipartisan solution, with the single goal of leaving the Social Security system stronger than we found it.

Chris Chocola

#26. Recently, the administration has rejected conservation attempts like more accurate fuel mileage for cars and bipartisan proposals for reducing our dependence on foreign oil by a million barrels a day.

Maria Cantwell

#27. So it is the business community and agricultural community who I think might have the most influence on helping us make this effort more bipartisan.

Claire McCaskill

#28. First, we must continually reaffirm the principle that the security of the United States is not, and should never be, a partisan matter. The United States can best defend its national security interests abroad by uniting behind a bipartisan security policy at home.

William Cohen

#29. Eastern Washington has experienced a number of deadly forest fires this season, and it is crucial that we have bipartisan legislation that will expedite the research and restoration process.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers

#30. We have to be on offense against terrorists, that we have to make it bipartisan, that it isn't about being a Democrat or a Republican. It's about being an American.

Rudy Giuliani

#31. I think that all areas of the budget have to be scrubbed. Clearly the entitlement issues have to be reformed and that's an issue that's going to require I think some strong bipartisan cooperation and leadership.

John Thune

#32. Since September 11th Congress has created the Department of Homeland Security, more than doubled the homeland security budget and implemented a bipartisan overhaul of our intelligence systems.

Doc Hastings

#33. In 2010, I proposed that Congress take its first pay cut in 77 years, and my effort had bipartisan support. And as part of leading by example, I returned 5 percent of my paycheck every month to pay down the debt.

Ann Kirkpatrick

#34. My decision to look seriously at elected office is grounded in a deep commitment to public service and my experience - both my own and that of my family - in finding just, practical, and bipartisan solutions to difficult challenges.

Joseph P. Kennedy III

#35. The medical device tax repeal is the only proposal that had the most bipartisan votes coming out of the House and has the opportunity in the Senate to gain tractions, and it fixes a part of ObamaCare in terms of repealing an awful tax. And it's got bipartisan support.

Erik Paulsen

#36. I learned some valuable lessons about the legislative process, the importance of bipartisan cooperation and the wisdom of taking small steps to get a big job done.

Hillary Clinton

#37. We've got a daunting enough task to provide a definitive account of what happened in 9/11, without fear or favor, something that will last and will survive criticism over time. And we think we can do that with integrity in a bipartisan report.

Richard Ben-Veniste

#38. I will say that I think Israel enjoys strong bipartisan support in the United States. It's really above and beyond American politics.

Benjamin Netanyahu

#39. The goal with a big piece of social legislation is to have a bipartisan result, so the country will accept it.

Lamar Alexander

#40. There's a huge cost in being bipartisan, a tradition started by Newt Gingrich when he took over the House in 1994 and has continued forward, that you dare not vote against the Republican Party even if you're voting against your own initiatives and your own interests.

Gwen Moore

#41. The budget enforcement rules of the 1990s were an important part of getting the budget back into balance. It was done on a bipartisan basis. Those pay-as-you-go rules were tested and they worked. We are now in a one-party system, and we have thrown them out.

Melissa Bean

#42. Redistricting is a deeply political process, with incumbents actively seeking to minimize the risk to themselves (via bipartisan gerrymanders) or to gain additional seats for their party (via partisan gerrymanders).

Thomas E. Mann

#43. You can be president of the United States and have the best, most bipartisan-seeming idea in the world. But if it doesn't have a constituency, you might as well be town clerk of Toad Suck, Arkansas.

Timothy Noah

#44. Blue Dogs have always acted in a bipartisan way. The Blue Dogs were the group in the Democratic side of the aisle that really pushed for the welfare-reform package that ultimately was signed into law in 1996.

Jim Matheson

#45. The federal government needs a strategic approach that includes strong leadership and the ability to manage weather related risks. The challenge of developing such an approach is complex: It must not only encompass all levels of government but must also be developed in a bipartisan manner.

Matt Cartwright

#46. I did look for compromise. I worked in a bipartisan way.

Stephanie Herseth

#47. I still believe the momentum is there to accomplish comprehensive immigration reform, and I think there is a bipartisan coalition that would pass right now, a pathway to citizenship if Speaker Boehner lets it come to the floor.

Joaquin Castro

#48. This is a bipartisan effort. This is just good common sense. This is where the public wants us to go. They want us to not be so dependent on foreign oil.

Sam Brownback

#49. The Violence Against Women Act has been a true bipartisan success story since it was first enacted in 1994. In my home state of Texas alone, its programs have helped hundreds of thousands of victims to break free from the terrible cycle of domestic violence.

John Cornyn

#50. I thought that the administration needed bipartisan support, and I was for our commander-in-chief. Because I felt at that time it was the right thing do. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never voted for the war.

Ken Lucas

#51. The two most frightening words in Washington are 'bipartisan consensus.' Bipartisan consensus is when my doctor and my lawyer agree with my wife that I need help.

P. J. O'Rourke

#52. We are looking for bipartisan solutions not partisan rhetoric.

Paul Ryan

#53. I will not be making appointments to a committee that is not bipartisan.

Nancy Pelosi

#54. Israel is a country of six million people. They need the U.S. It used to be bipartisan on Israeli politics. You never messed with that relationship. The fact that [ Benjamin] Netanyahu is willing to do that, I thought would horrify voters more than it turned out it did.

David Brooks

#55. I believe that there is a bipartisan consensus to have individual mandates.

Chuck Grassley

#56. One of the first things I did as a new Member of Congress was help form a bipartisan Mississippi River Caucus so we could work together from both the North and the South in order to draw attention to the resources that are needed along the Mississippi River.

Ron Kind

#57. I welcome the Democrats' ideas on Social Security. I think it is very important to make a bipartisan reform.

Jack Kingston

#58. We believe - we believe that, if we tell the people the truth, that they will act bigger than the pettiness we see in Washington, D.C. We believe it is possible to forge bipartisan compromise, and stand up for our conservative principles.

Chris Christie

#59. President Obama has ignored or dismissed proposals that would address our anti-competitive tax code and unsustainable trajectory of federal debt - including his own bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform - and submitted no plan for entitlement reform.

Glenn Hubbard

#60. Voters definitely believe Washington is corrupt - but most think it's bipartisan.

Chuck Todd

#61. The U.S. is by far the biggest exporter of arms in the world. It was true during the Clinton administration, and it's true during the Bush administration. It's bipartisan.

Andrew Niccol

#62. One bipartisan policy tradition is to deny Americans the use of our own resources.

Harold Ford Jr.

#63. He led the state through a budget crisis, natural disasters, and political turmoil, working across party lines for a better environment, election reforms, and bipartisan solutions.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

#64. Spending more time with my colleagues outside the Capitol helps build bipartisan relationships.

Erik Paulsen

#65. There is overwhelming bipartisan support outside of Washington that we need to finally secure our borders, enforce our laws, and stop the problem of illegal immigration.

Ted Cruz

#66. We are the in midst of a bipartisan moment as it relates to criminal justice reform and dealing with mass incarceration in America which disproportionately impacts the African-American community.

Hakeem Jeffries

#67. So we have broad bipartisan support for the bill, and it's my hope that we can build on some of the things that have been talked about in Washington involving building a larger ownership society.

Harold Ford Jr.

#68. Economic policies command bipartisan support only when they're incoherent.

Steven Landsburg

#69. The House has passed several bipartisan bills to ensure all Americans have the opportunity to secure a good job to provide for their families. All of these jobs bills deserve the support of our Senators and a strong show of leadership from the president.

Joe Heck

#70. The 2000s were marked by terrorism and a bipartisan desire to fight it.

Ari Fleischer

#71. The only bipartisan place in D.C. is Brooks Brothers.

Tony Hale

#72. The review process was conducted in an extremely bipartisan manner. Minority members of the Judiciary Committee were responsible for the invitation of 1/3 of the witnesses who appeared.

Jo Bonner

#73. There is an analogy between conservation and education reform. The coalition around education reform is the biggest bipartisan thing going in this state right now. We need to recapture the big bipartisan spirit for conservation.

Rob McKenna

#74. Let's create jobs by bringing the Shaheen-Portman bipartisan energy efficiency bill to the floor.

Jeanne Shaheen

#75. I think Social Security should be bipartisan and it should transcend the next election, and you should get the best ideas of the Democrats and of the Republicans, and move forward with the best.

Jack Kingston

#76. We also think this is a reminder of the long tradition of bipartisan foreign policy that has been the hallmark of America at moments of greatest need, and that's the kind of spirit that we hope will be reflected in our administration.

Barack Obama

#77. I think Democrats in Congress love Israel. Our relationship with Israel depends on a strong bipartisan relationship.

Jane Harman

#78. I was proud to be an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act when Congress passed it in 1994, and was proud to support the previous renewals in 2000 and 2005. These bills always enjoyed large, bipartisan support.

Carolyn Maloney

#79. We'll review President Obama's plan [on closing Guantanamo], but since it includes bringing dangerous terrorists to facilities in U.S. communities, he should know that the bipartisan will of Congress has already been expressed against that proposal.

Audie Cornish

#80. There are also concerns that Congress, despite bipartisan

Anonymous

#81. There are three legs of the stool; spending, entitlements and making the tax code fair and equitable. That's the three legs of the stool. If we do all of those in a responsible, bipartisan way, I think the American people would all be very, very happy.

Claire McCaskill

#82. It's time to look beyond the budget ax to assure access to health care for all. It's time to look for bipartisan solutions to the problems we can tackle today, and to work together for tomorrow - building a health care system that works for all Americans.

Ron Wyden

#83. I have an ability to work collegially across a wide range of interests in the caucus and in the Congress, and an ability to work on a bipartisan basis. Appropriators pride themselves on that.

Marcy Kaptur

#84. Mr. Speaker, for the last 5 years I have been working with a bipartisan group of my colleagues to make it illegal to continue the barbaric practice of game bird and illegal dog fighting.

Earl Blumenauer

#85. I've got a bit of an independent streak. I'm not afraid of bipartisan compromise on issues that are important to the nation.

Heather Wilson

#86. I've always worked on bipartisans, whether it's on healthcare, drug reform, et cetera. All my work is bipartisan, because what I'm - as nonpartisan actually, because I look for solutions. I'm very practical.

Teresa Heinz

#87. You don't have to dislike people you disagree with and it doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to have bipartisan friendships in this place. Life's too short to have it any other way.

Dave Obey

#88. I think there's bipartisan support in the Senate to pass a good reform bill.

Don Nickles

#89. With the strong bipartisan rejection of the Dorgan amendment today, the Senate cast a vote in favor of the U.S. working to knock down unfair trade barriers that hurt American business and farmers

Rob Portman

#90. I want to make it clear publicly that I expect more candor from this Administration during the next four years, particularly with members on the Foreign Relations Committee so that we can maintain a bipartisan foreign policy.

George Voinovich

#91. Some presidents, such as Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy, are political sailors - they tack with the wind, reaching difficult policy objectives through bipartisan maneuvering and pulse-taking.

Douglas Brinkley

#92. The United States Congress, acting with large bipartisan majorities, at the urging of the President, enacted as the law of the land that all children are to be above average.

Charles A. Murray

#93. The Spending Control Act. It would recreate President Reagan's grace commission to have a bipartisan commission on how we reduce spending.

Mark Kirk

#94. The progressive notion of the state as a loving, caring parent is becoming a bipartisan affair.

Jonah Goldberg

#95. Israel has, enjoys bipartisan support - both Democrats and Republicans - and we extend bipartisan hospitality to both Democrats and Republicans.

Benjamin Netanyahu

#96. The way you have bipartisan negotiations, you sit down across the table, as we did with Ted Kennedy, as I've done with many other members, and you say, 'OK, here's what I want, here's what you want. We'll adhere to your principles, but we'll make concessions.'

John McCain

#97. In New Mexico, I inherited the largest structural deficit in state history, and our legislature is controlled by Democrats. We don't always agree, but we came together in a bipartisan manner and turned that deficit into a surplus. And we did it without raising taxes.

Susana Martinez

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

Thomas Sowell

#99. Last year, I co-sponsored the Highlands Conservation Act and in a bipartisan effort we passed the bill through Congress.

Sue Kelly

#100. Administration officials, in fact, have repeatedly condemned ISIS for its treatment of religious minorities, including Christians. But a bipartisan resolution now moving through Congress calls on the administration to go further and say ISIS is guilty of genocide.

Tom Gjelten