David Vitter Quotes (47 Quotes)

That would be absolutely horrible news for our Gulf states.

Ronald Reagan's vision of smaller government, less taxes, and a strong national defense has led to a prosperous America. As president, he rebuilt our military and reinvigorated our confidence in ourselves.

I really think the biggest challenge is to convince those in Washington that we have a smart, bold plan to rebuild in the right way,

This action today to fund brand new projects, most of which are unrelated to the hurricane, is going to have a lot of folks up here scratching their heads, ... It's not going to build confidence in what we're doing on the ground, and that confidence building is an absolutely necessary part of what we need to have success in Congress.

It's not a perfect bill but it's a good, solid bill worth passing,

The first thing we did was increase the amount we bring back to Louisiana, ... We have been and still are what's called a 'donor state.' For every 1 of federal gasoline tax that we spend, we get less than 1 back in federal highway funds. That's wrong, particularly because we are very needy and are considered a relatively poor state.

Marriage is a core institution of societies throughout the world and throughout history. It's something that has provided permanence and stability for our very social structure.

I think money is absolutely being wasted, ... Louisiana workers and Louisiana businesses are not being used.

I have four children, and they are my four greatest reasons to make sure we meet our goal of securing a strong future for Louisiana.

By removing this obstruction created by the pharmaceutical companies and their army of lobbyists, we are one step closer to greater access to safe and cheaper prescription drugs.

Senators David Vitter, a Republican, and Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, both Louisianans who have a history of bad blood between them, were on the same side today. Senator Landrieu referred to Mr. Vitter as my colleague, ... my partner Mary Landrieu.

He has impeccable legal credentials and a well-grounded conservative judicial philosophy -- just what so many, including me, consider most important,

If the American people lose confidence in this effort, Louisiana and the victims of the storm are going to suffer, so we have to have those protections in place.

To me, the single most important thing to me is that he has the right judicial philosophy, ... He will read the law as written by Congress and apply it to the facts of a case as written and not make it up as he goes along based on his views.

We just have horrible conditions to deal with, ... For instance, every and route into the city except one is flooded and obviously we are using air assets, but it is tough. They are moving things into the city, diesel fuel, water, ice food etc as fast as they can.

At one point, the conversation turned to the preoccupation of the day -- the Supreme Court. If there were to be an opening, one of the guests, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), told the president he should consider a New Orleans federal appeals judge, Edith Brown Clement. Bush seemed interested and asked Vitter about her. The president already knew the name, ... She was already on some sort of short list.

We need a Katrina reconstruction commission headed by a no-nonsense, nonpolitical, businessman manager so that we all have something lasting to show for this spending,

I welcome the boldness of his vision. ... Clearly the tough work remains to be done, and everybody, including Congress, needs to roll up their sleeves and get that work done.

I was really uplifted here. There are heroes to this story and they are the local leaders and private citizens who banded together in the individual communities that were devastated to just get the job done in the initial days, with no help in those initial days coming in from outside, they got it done and they are the real heroes.

It's the only plan we had, ... There was no plan B.

What I am suggesting is that I'd love to see more written material that predates the nomination,

We're talking about an entire major American metropolitan area that has been completely dislocated, completely evacuated, ... Last time that happened in American history was the Civil War.

Richard is a senior member of the House's Transportation Committee, ... I was on a relevant Senate committee. We were both named to the joint legislative committee which developed the final version of the bill. If not for Richard's leadership, a lot of this wouldn't have gotten done.

When a disaster is as big as at least Katrina, and you have this full-scale mobilization food and water and ice and rescue efforts I believe the proper entity at the federal level is the uniformed services to be in the lead of that,

I've heard many Washington talking heads say that heads must roll, ... I'm all for that and have my own personal list. But that alone isn't enough. We need to look at the big picture - not just what people failed but also what institutions and models failed and, just as importantly, what others worked against all odds.

The United Nations has no business in our elections.

I'm really pleased that the President has named a single, focused federal coordinator for the hurricane recovery effort, ... to begin an important dialogue about just what leadership and focus is needed on the ground in Louisiana.

Wendy and I grew up in New Orleans, and every place we know and have so many wonderful memories of, is almost all under water,

Catholic schools prepare every student to meet the challenges of their future by developing their mind, yes, but also their body and their soul and spirit.

We haven't been disciplined enough over the last 10 years. We need to do that, and we needed to do that before Katrina. We still need to do that over the medium and long term,

My central question still remains .... Is there objective, written evidence from prior to her nomination that fully shows that she has a truly consistent and well-grounded conservative judicial philosophy

Hopefully today is the turnaround, that is my prayer,

On the positive side, I'm very impressed so far with Vice Admiral Allen,

The person would have no authority the government doesn't already have. It would be someone who could cut through the red tape.

The situation has gotten a lot better. The water is not rising right now in New Orleans.

We do not need international help to stop corruption, we need strong Louisiana Leadership.

(Last week) was tough. It was hard. Now we're here a week later and things are turning the corner. People are upbeat. We came here to listen, to learn, to talk to people and to analyze what went wrong. And so far we've learned a lot.

Many folks, including me, frankly, were disappointed that Senator Landrieu a few years ago filibustered and supported that filibuster of Miguel Estrada ... after she had expressed strong support of that very nomination in her re-election campaign,

Unfortunately, we're at the top of a really bad list, ... That is railway crossing accidents and fatalities. Although we're not a populous state, we rank in the Top 3 in railway accidents and the Top 5 in deaths related to railway accidents. We have as many dangerous railway crossing as just about any state, except maybe for California and Illinois.

It could have that effect. Our (legislation) would provide an incentive for people to come back.

We need to be able to get them the cash they need to be able to live and survive, even in the near term, because many of these folks live paycheck to paycheck, ... The Early Show.

I think the ultimate test of this concept is what concrete, positive, bold action this produces.

I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams.

One of the appropriation bills, the Transportation Treasury HUD Appropriation Bill, had money put into the bill at the committee level, ... When it comes out of committee once we return to session after Labor Day, we'll be passing it off the floor of the Senate. I'm confident that money will be there, plus maybe a little more if possible in the final conference committee version.

What's important to real people in the real world in the real devastated area is that we get real help to them today, not give a speech, not filibuster,

This wasn't a failure of one person, although it was that also, ... It was a failure of the whole bureaucracy, and the solution to that isn't getting a new head bureaucrat or a new type of head bureaucrat. I think the whole bureaucratic FEMA model is what has to be probably discarded.

That is a subject of a lot of discussion between many of us and the administration,