Quotes About Congress

#1. Congress is the Justin Bieber of our government

Jon Stewart

#2. The Federal Reserve and Congress have systematically taught the American people to trust the government and that caution in spending is harmful to the economy.

Ron Paul

#3. And that's the mission of The Innocence Project in New York, is to exonerate people who have been wrongfully convicted, and also work from a policy angle with Congress and state legislatures to prevent future wrongful convictions.

John Grisham

#4. Country is run by ... financial powers & corporate interests [who] send their lawyers to Congress to make laws so that they don't have to pay taxes

Gore Vidal

#5. I believe Congress has a duty to do so as well; not simply as a body of legislators, but more importantly as a community of friends, neighbors, parents and Americans.

Jim Walsh

#6. The Small Business Lending Fund was cleverly named by its authors last Congress. Since its implementation, however, it would appear a more appropriate name would be the Bailed Out Bank Refinancing Fund.

Ed Royce

#7. Hillary's explanation of the Libyan action to Congress was so good, I wonder who explained it to her?

Mort Sahl

#8. Wall Street, the banks, and corporate America, has been able to call the shots here. They control our members of Congress and they get what they want.

Michael Moore

#9. [Campaign sign when running for Congress in 1967:] Vote for me or I will hold my breath until I turn blue.

Shirley Temple

#10. I understand the chairman of the Senate Ethics comittee is going to examine the check-bouncing scandal with a microscope ... makes sense ... If you're going to look at ethics in Congress, a microscope is what you need.

Jay Leno

#11. Women leading means that Congress is working to create jobs, make quality child care more affordable and strengthen the middle class because we understand that America grows the economy and opportunity from the middle out, not the top down.

Barbara Mikulski

#12. I've come to the conclusion the whole Washington scene represents a diminishment of civilization. Our country's in a free-fall to mediocrity, and Congress is leading the way.

Robert Atkinson

#13. Everyone cares for disabled people, right? What they don't care for are genuine civil rights for disabled people. MARY JOHNSON tells the tortuous, enraging story of how Congress enacted a law that instead of protecting against discrimination has turned 'the disabled' into a political punching bag.

William Greider

#14. The President and the Democrats on Congress have exploited the financial crisis to advance their socialist big government tax, spend and borrow agenda.

Bradley A. Blakeman

#15. Congress should not be like the Super Bowl where you have to have one team that's going to win and another team that's going to be a loser.

John Breaux

#16. I happened to have the privilege of serving in Congress. It will be 16 years at the end of this term. And I think I made a difference here on important issues.

Dennis Kucinich

#17. Congress' passing of the omnibus spending bill without reading it shows more than anything why they can't be trusted.

Neal Boortz

#18. The United States being a limited form of government, one of the restrictions to which it is subject is in regard to its power to levy taxes. The States may levy them for a great many purposes for which Congress cannot, because to the States belong all of the powers not delegated to Congress.

Samuel Freeman Miller

#19. I believe certain members of the U.S. Congress have aided in the oppression and diversion of critical information that could have revealed a fullness of truth long ago.

Bo Gritz

#20. At the insistence of the Bush administration, Congress in 2006 passed legislation that required the Postal Service to prefund, over a 10-year period, 75 years of future retiree health benefits.

Bernie Sanders

#21. This drug coverage program was clearly designed by Republicans in Congress to serve the interests of the drug and insurance industries. America's seniors were an afterthought.

Sherrod Brown

#22. They say that women talk too much. If you have worked in Congress you know that the filibuster was invented by men.

Clare Boothe Luce

#23. Washington and Congress are steeped in history and tradition, and that's been very male-oriented.

Nancy Pelosi

#24. I think that Goldman Sachs and the Pentagon determine more of America's outcome then any president or any congress, that sounds a bit cynical, but I think I am right.

Henry Rollins

#25. Jack Abramoff is going to testify against some of the other weasels in Congress. A lobbyist testifying against congressmen? How many Bibles are going to burst into flames in that courtroom?

Jay Leno

#26. I'd like to see that bipartisanship come back that we used to have in the House of Representatives, in the Clinton years. I think there's a possibility that the voters are going to send the message that everybody running - Congress, the Senate, the presidency - that they want us to come together.

Bill Richardson

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

Donella Meadows

#28. During President George W. Bush's two terms, you couldn't drive far without seeing a particular bumper sticker: Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Now that Democrats control the White House and Congress, the left treats dissent as the lowest form of treason.

Monica Crowley

#29. What I want the Congress of the United States to do, and frankly what I would like to see the President of the United States of America do, is speak a word of support to the people of Iran.

Mike Pence

#30. What are the moral implications? What do these people do when they have tremendous amounts of money? They use that money to perpetuate their own wealth and their own power. Every day, Congress works on behalf of big-money interests.

Bernie Sanders

#31. From Europe. They had been away for three months, having left in February to attend a famous medical congress in London; and certain things, which

L.M. Montgomery

#32. Some day, the public might actually revolt against the undemocratic system of seniority that allows Congress to keep the old ways of Washington ingrained into the culture of Congress.

Chuck Todd

#33. If Obamacare is allowed to stand - and Congress is allowed to make the purchase of government-endorsed health insurance compulsory - there will be no meaningful limit on Washington's reach into the lives of the American people. That is certainly not what the Founders intended.

John Cornyn

#34. Order of events had lately come to the English Crown and People, from a congress of British subjects in America: which, strange to relate, have proved more important to the human race than any communications yet received through any of the chickens of the Cock-lane brood.

Charles Dickens

#35. Politicians in their hubris who believe they can ignore debt or wish it away are sorely disappointed - as we see now with the plummeting approval ratings of both the administration and Congress.

Victor Davis Hanson

#36. Well, Harry Reid and other members of congress, they're just furious over this Olympic uniform deal. He says we should burn the uniforms, and it's an embarrassment and a disgrace. Not as embarrassing as congress constantly borrowing money from the Chinese, but still embarrassing.

Jay Leno

#37. I was counsel on the full veterans committee, the first Vietnam veteran to serve as a full-committee counsel in Congress. It stunned me that there was a 600,000-case backlog of claims. During my time in the Senate, it became 900,000.

Jim Webb

#38. And so whether it's failing to move forward on the Dream Act, failing to move forward on putting teachers back to work, failing to do all the things we could do right now to help the economy and middle class, this Congress is just saying no.

David Plouffe

#39. Pentagon dollars are essentially seen as a different kind of funding that doesn't have to stand for itself and make an argument for itself in the house of Congress.

Rachel Maddow

#40. I could say, as a member of Congress, we usually get an alert if something is going to happen at the Capitol.

Barack Obama

#41. And whether it is equal pay, health care, Social Security, or family leave, this Congress has refused to address issues critical to hard-working American women.

Louise Slaughter

#42. Don't people know that they don't have to heckle the president of the United States? That's what Congress is for.

Bob Hope

#43. When I first ran for Congress in 1998, people counted me out.

Tammy Baldwin

#44. Many of the opposition [to the new Federal Constitution] wish to take from Congress the power of internal taxation. Calculation has convinced me that this would be very mischievous.

Thomas Jefferson

#45. Can any of you seriously say the Bill of Rights could get through Congress today? It wouldn't even get out of committee.

F. Lee Bailey

#46. Congress is back in season.

Jane Ace

#47. CONGRESS, n. A body of men who meet to repeal laws.

Ambrose Bierce

#48. I probably hold more town halls than any member of Congress.

Joe Walsh

#49. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.

Peter Stone

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

Mary Norton

#51. It is time for Congress to save the Postal Service, not dismantle it.

Bernie Sanders

#52. Congress is supposed to provide oversight, the voters are supposed to provide oversight. And you [the media] were supposed to provide oversight. That's why you have special liberties and that's why you have special protections.

Trey Gowdy

#53. Immediately call on Congress to pass far-reaching industry regulation like the Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act ... [which] would give the Treasury Department health and safety authority over the gun industry, and any rational regulator with that authority would ban handguns.

Josh Sugarmann

#54. Congress is dysfunctional.

Bob Filner

#55. Things were very different back in 1992. There was unrest in the Middle East, we had a gridlocked Congress, and everybody was talking about Bill Cosby.

Craig Ferguson

#56. The legal right of the Southern people to reclaim their fugitives I have constantly admitted. The legal right of Congress to interfere with their institution in the states, I have constantly denied.

Abraham Lincoln

#57. When Congress exercises the powers delegated to it by the Constitution, it may impose affirmative obligations on executive and judicial officers of state and local governments as well as ordinary citizens.

David Souter

#58. Congress is not a party which fades when not in power

P. Chidambaram

#59. Health care for all Americans is the most pressing domestic issue today. It's far past time for the President and Congress to deliver health care to everyone.

Russ Feingold

#60. One of the big changes in the Congress since I first came to Washington is that all of these folks go home every weekend. They used to play golf together; their families got to know each other, go to dinner at each other's homes at weekends - and these would be people who were political adversaries.

Robert M. Gates

#61. An 'exchange' would allow everyone to choose their health care insurance from a broad range of options - just like federal employees and Congress do right now - and allow their employer to help pay for it.

Andrew P. Harris

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

Alberto Fujimori

#63. Congress must also enact pro-growth policies that encourage the economy to expand: like making tax relief permanent and repealing the death tax.

Michael Steele

#64. During the Reagan years, government shut down eight different times under a Democrat Congress. The president and Congress worked together and got things straightened out. Under the Carter years, again a Democrat Congress, the government shut down five times.

Mitt Romney

#65. Imagine if, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Gulf Coast residents had to wait on Democrats and Republicans to agree on cuts before receiving clean water or loans to rebuild. Congress' negotiations often come slow or not at all.

Cedric Richmond

#66. Pro and con are opposites, that fact is clearly seen. If progress means to move forward, then what does congress mean?

Nipsey Russell

#67. Overreaction is one of the things that congress specializes in. I can't think of anything congress does better than overreact.

Fred Barnes

#68. Some statesmen go to Congress and some go to jail. It is the same thing, after all.

Eugene Field

#69. Virginia and Maryland attorneys argued this is a national problem and needs a national solution. I'm hoping that with a federal court agreeing this is inequitable, Congress will now act and do the right thing for the District.

Walter Smith

#70. It is not secret here in Congress we have not had the discipline in many instances to keep our hands out of the cookie jar of Social Security. Now to stop this I propose that in the future that Congress cannot get its hands on the money in the first place.

Jeff Miller

#71. Congress would make it mandatory, absolutely require, that, every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner

Betsy McCaughey

#72. 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.

Earl Warren

#73. If taxpayers want better results from Congress, they must stop paying their elected officials for failure. After all, you get what you pay for.

Jim Cooper

#74. I tend to avoid the shows that focus on politics, just to get a break from it all, i tried watching the first couple episodes of 'House of Cards,' but I thought it was way over the top. Members of Congress aren't anything like Frank Underwood. Most of us are far less interesting.

Paul Ryan

#75. We simply must look beyond partisan goals and find common ground as Americans. It is imperative that the Members of Congress recognize that partisanship will not serve the American people.

Michael Crapo

#76. If the administration asks for $5 and Congress appropriates $4, that's what they get. If the government creates a subterfuge by going outside the government to raise money through a private entity, that's a violation of the law.

Lamar Alexander

#77. Congress had the opportunity to extend tax relief to working families without increasing the deficit. Instead, we were handed a bill that favors the wealthy and eliminates deductions that benefit the middle class.

Rick Larsen

#78. Mentioning God in the Pledge of Allegiance is no different in kind than allowing government salaried Chaplains for the military or for the Congress, or including the official motto, In God We Trust, on our currency.

Orrin Hatch

#79. We in Congress need to do everything possible to encourage and cultivate small businesses, so that they can expand and create jobs. Far too often, however, U.S. small businesses are impeded by government paperwork and bureaucratic red tape.

Kay Hagan

#80. Hardworking families can no longer afford to wait for a Congress that gridlocks on ideology. I look forward to working with my colleagues from both parties to get things done.

Kyrsten Sinema

#81. Clay Aiken ran for Congress in North Carolina. But he didn't make it. Clay Aiken is famous for coming in second in a TV popularity contest that most people got fed up with years ago. He also lost on 'American Idol.'

Craig Ferguson

#82. People like Congress more than their health insurance companies.

Joshua Kushner

#83. The American people expect more from Congress. They expect fiscal responsibility and common sense. They expect us to return to the pay-as-you-go budget rules that we had enacted in the past that helped us establish a surplus, however briefly.

Melissa Bean

#84. I think if you look at yesterday's New York Times poll, particularly when you judge Democrats in Congress versus the Republicans in Congress, people put a little more faith, or even a little more than a little more faith in the Democrats in Congress.

John Podesta

#85. The famous convention of 1787 met in Philadelphia to define the additional powers needed to enable Congress to do its job effectively. Instead, the convention proposed a brand new national government.

Edmund Morgan

#86. Instead of marginalizing women, Congress must get to work on policies that can foster job creation and fuel economic growth.

Kirsten Gillibrand

#87. The moral issue here is whether the United States Congress is going to stand in the way of science and preclude scientists from doing lifesaving research.

Rosa DeLauro

#88. Now if you should hear any one say that Lincoln don't [sic] want to go to Congress, I wish you as a personal friend of mine, wouldtell him that you have reason to believe he is mistaken.

Abraham Lincoln

#89. Most Americans, who think Congress has a right to do anything for which they can get a majority vote, ignore the clearly written constitutional restraints on Congress.

Walter E. Williams

#90. Congress seems to thrive on breaking promises and passing unfunded mandates down to local government. It's really just a matter of priorities.

Jared Polis

#91. June 1st is a date that is looming in everybody's mind with the final enforcement of the UIGEA. I actually think it may, finally, once and for all prove that it's an ineffective law. Congress created that law and now Congress has to do something to correct it.

John Pappas

#92. Too many members of Congress believe they can solve all economic problems, cure all social ills, and bring about worldwide peace and prosperity simply by creating new federal programs.

Ron Paul

#93. I think in politics, in Congress, you often do things that are Republican, or you do things because you're a Democrat. Sometimes that's good, obviously, and sometimes that's obviously bad. But in the news business, there's no such thing as Republican or Democratic news. News is news.

J. C. Watts

#94. The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it ... [I]f followed to its logical extreme, [this approach] would result in an unwarranted expansion of federal power.

Clarence Thomas

#95. Congress mandated that health care providers in emergency departments and ambulances provide emergency care to anyone in need, including the uninsured and underinsured.

Barbara Ann Radnofsky

#96. I believe that our office has clearly been the leader in building coalitions, in getting other universities across the contrary to interact more effectively with the government and particularly the Congress.

Charles Vest

#97. 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

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

Pat Robertson

#99. What I find is most people have a civics book understanding for how Congress works and how a bill moves.

Sam Brownback

#100. Why if every practising polygamist went home from the Congress there would not be a quorum left to do business.

Various