Congress Quotes: Insightful Words on Legislators & Legislation

"If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?"

Thomas Jefferson, President

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

Clare Boothe Luce, Dramatist

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution"

Abraham Lincoln, President

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money"

Alexis de Tocqueville, Historian

"There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress"

Mark Twain, Author

"I don't mind what Congress does, as long as they don't do it in the streets and frighten the horses"

Victor Hugo, Author

"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress"

Ronald Reagan, President

"I am not liked as a President by the politicians in office, in the press, or in Congress. But I am content to abide the judgment the sober second thought of the people"

Rutherford B. Hayes, President

"Unauthorized access to computer systems is already a serious crime in a few states and is currently being addressed in many more state legislatures as well as Congress"

Ken Thompson, Scientist

"The new Congress needs to move quickly to strengthen the Army and Marines - not to send more troops to Iraq - but to rebuild our capacity to meet national security threats globally"

Mark Udall, Politician

"Although I agree that wild horses are a symbol of the American West, I also believe that it is the responsibility of Congress to ensure that these animals are managed, protected, and controlled in an effective manner"

Jon Porter, Politician

"Congress acknowledged that society's accumulated myths and fears about disability and disease are as handicapping as are the physical limitations that flow from actual impairment"

William J. Brennan, Jr., Judge

"Finally, we need more Border Patrol agents. Although Congress has already tripled the number of Border Patrol agents since the late 1980s, more are still needed"

Ric Keller, Politician

"Now back in those days, to become a rural mail carrier you had to be approved by congress"

Betty Hill, Celebrity

"When I came to Congress, like our first panel, small business people, 64 percent of the people had health insurance. We'd buy it. Now, we're down to about 34 percent. That's why we have to do something on health care in this country because the cost is killing us"

Bart Stupak, Politician

"All of us want to see the details of any legislative plan if there's going to be a legislative response, but Congress, I believe, is in the mood to do whatever it takes to win this war against terrorism"

Richard Shelby, Politician

"We must continue our fight to ensure that Federal, State, and local authorities have the resources and support necessary to combat this growing epidemic. This is a top priority for me and many of my colleagues here in Congress"

Ron Lewis, Politician

"I don't think it's the function of Congress to function well. It should drag its heels on the way to decision"

Barber B. Conable, Jr.

"Congress and the White House are working out their scheme for pushing through a healthcare 'reform' bill that has more pages than the U.S. Constitution has words. I guarantee you that not a single member of the House or Senate has a complete understanding of that legislation any more than they understood all the implications of the USA PATRIOT Act back in 2001"

Butch Otter, Politician

"The mayor has got to work closely with a wide variety of people, his city council, state legislature, governor, business community, labor community, president and the congress in order to be able to do this"

Marc Morial, Politician

"Obviously, overall infrastructure needs on the Southwest and Northern borders are mounting. We need a major push in Congress to remedy this"

Pete Domenici, Politician

"I wouldn't approach the issue of judging in the way the president does. Judges can't rely on what's in their heart. They don't determine the law. Congress makes the law. The job of a judge is to apply the law"

Sonia Sotomayor, Judge

"The President's call for more math and science students is not being heeded by his party's leaders in Congress. They are cutting over $10 billion from student aide while refusing to fully fund No Child Left Behind. Something doesn't add up"

Jim Clyburn, Politician

"Amtrak is extremely important to the economy of Southern Illinois and I will continue to work with state and local leaders and my colleagues in Congress to secure the necessary funding to maintain full service"

Jerry Costello, Politician

"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, Lawyer

"Our mission, as set forth by the Congress is a critical one: to preserve price stability, to foster maximum sustainable growth in output and employment, and to promote a stable and efficient financial system that serves all Americans well and fairly"

Ben Bernanke

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself"

Mark Twain, Author

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress"

Mark Twain, Author

"There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption. If it is really going to work, the relationship has got to be almost incestuous"

Lyndon B. Johnson, President

"The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets"

Will Rogers, Actor

"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer"

Will Rogers, Actor

"If I studied all my life, I couldn't think up half the number of funny things passed in one session of congress"

Will Rogers, Actor

"Being elected to Congress is regarded as being sent on a looting raid for one's friends"

George Will, Journalist

"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, Judge

"I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also"

Theodore Roosevelt, President

"Obama's health care plan will be written by a committee whose head, John Conyers, says he doesn't understand it. It'll be passed by Congress that has not read it, signed by a president who smokes, funded by a Treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that's nearly broke. What could possibly go wrong?"

Rush Limbaugh, Entertainer

"Every citizen of this country should be guaranteed that their vote matters, that their vote is counted, and that in the voting booth, their vote has a much weight as that of any CEO, any member of Congress, or any President"

Barbara Boxer, Politician

"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, Dramatist

"The airheads of Congress will keep their own plush healthcare plan - it's the rest of us guinea pigs who will be thrown to the wolves"

Camille Paglia, Author

"As Members of Congress, we swear an oath to uphold the United States Constitution. It means something to be an American because we believe in our country, we believe in our people, and we believe in our constitution"

Todd Tiahrt, Politician

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