Christopher Shays Quotes (74 Quotes)

The volume and impact of these pseudo-classifications is growing, ... inhibits the free flow of critical information.

One Republican said the party would be judged on how decisively it responds to these accusations of wrongdoing and others in which leading Republicans are entangled. What is our standard ... The bottom line is how we handle it.

I speak strongly in my outrage that some on my side of the aisle, my leaders in particular, have sought to make this a political issue,

What is of most concern is that the president handle it properly that he ask officials who are indicted to step down that he not vacillate, not equivocate that he be decisive.

It's hard for me to imagine that some people in the CIA who had firsthand knowledge would be unable to recognize that this would be helpful information for a soldier's death.

The costs have gone off the charts. If ever there was a time to need assistance, it is now.

Tom DeLay should not be in a position of authority. He should not be calling the shots or driving the agenda, and if he is, that would be unfortunate.

If we don't have a vote on September 11th, it will be my feeling that the president didn't weigh in strong enough,

I would be inclined to support gas tax relief on the House floor, but I would prefer the reinstatement of the gas tax be based on price, not an arbitrary time frame,

I'd like people to listen to our soldiers. They were there. They heard the alarms go off. They tasted the substance in the air. They spit up blood. They had rashes on their bodies. They got sick.

If true, this is an illegal act.

It's hard for me to reconcile that someone doesn't know that they have steroids in their body. I'm extraordinarily skeptical,

I have been pushed to anger by the pervasive moral and ethical minimalism of this White House,

We knew shortly after the war that our troops were becoming ill.

I think that some of our soldiers die in the battlefield and some come home to bad health and die prematurely, just by the nature of the kind of business they're in.

We need to make sure FEMA is helping communities sort out how they will deal with these pets,

There are a number of reforms that make sense and the gun lobby, which is very powerful, was able to kill them,

Yes, there is a story about Agent Orange, and we knew that it harmed our troops and we knew how long it was to get the medical community to accept that, the military to accept it, the VA to accept it.

Congressional leaders conducting their own investigations said the latest revelations underscore the need for far-reaching changes in the way the world body does business. This report demonstrates the United Nations lacks the institutional red lights and alarms necessary to warn of misconduct, ... This absence of basic oversight has allowed individual corruption to flourish system-wide.

It's not in our best interest to have any doubt about where we in the United States stand. My Republican conference, that overwhelmingly supports the war in Iraq, must send a clear message that we do not tolerate torture.

All you make me want to do by your answers is know more about what the hell you do.

My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election.

No, because you didn't do a good job, ... Because you were clueless about what was happening and because you allowed the department to be eviscerated without publicly speaking out.

Tom's problem isn't just this. It's continual acts that border and go sometimes beyond the ethical edge, ... They may not be illegal, but he's always pushing that ethical edge to the limit.

I get the feeling you were a little detached from this. I don't get a sense your heart was in it. It's like Pontius Pilate washing his hands of responsibility.

I think he's hurting the party because he's just gone too far too often, ... He doesn't know the bounds of what's appropriate. He goes well beyond them. It's not that he may have broken the law, it's that he has continually pushed what is proper conduct to the very edge, and it's the accumulation of this.

I don't get a sense that your heart was in this, frankly,

He ended up being the most outspoken against steroid use and even this guy is in a situation where he's been suspended. It just blows me away. Obviously, it calls into question every accomplishment he's had.

First off, I'm not a scientist, and I make no apology for that.

It's not about freedom of speech because we retain free speech. It's about ending corrupt politics.

Upon the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer that question,

Wow, ... If ever there was a time for bipartisanship, I didn't hear it in that last speech.

I know and you know people who would not leave without their pets. They will stay. They did stay in New Orleans,

Basically the DOD just, without any hesitation, said, This is not due to their experience in the Gulf War. And so the DOD was just totally in denial.

The (Veterans Administration and Department of Defense) and the bureaucracies in general still have a tin ear and a very cold heart and a very closed mind,

With competing ambitions, Hastert is very aware of the tensions developing that he is going to have to deal with, ... Folks are looking to see if they can get into leadership.

We got elected basically by saying we would live by a higher moral standard and I don't think recently we have,

Amazingly, he knew lives were in danger but he believed he didn't have the authority, therefore he didn't act. That to me is what is outrageous,

You've got to tell the truth, ... And if you don't tell the truth, then everything else you say goes into question.

And that's why I understand that members that happen to be primarily Democrats concluded that the president should not be impeached and members on my side of the aisle primarily Republicans who believe he should be impeached,

I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job.

I don't think she can be objective because, frankly, I would want to know what was she doing in that time, before the storm, during the storm, after the storm. She is going to be one of the people that, in a sense, is being investigated. So I'm not sure that she's the logical choice.

I believe that stress is a factor in any bad health.

What we know from World War I is that some of our troops had acute symptoms of exposure to chemicals, had bad health and died because of chemical exposure in World War I.

The important thing is that we clean it up and elect officials who will respect their office and honor their constituents,

The bottom line to this is, there are few doctors who have any expertise in chemical exposure.

I have no illusions, but I think he is extraordinarily intelligent and has a very clear assessment of the Middle East,

What Mr. Brown didn't realize was that this was such a unique circumstance, he needed to step in, be extraordinarily aggressive, fill in the void left by the incompetence of the state and local government, ... He should have taken charge if no one else was.

I will tell you, I fly less because my knowledge of the system is better than the general public. And I think we endanger the general public by not checking the cargo in the belly of an aircraft.

Republicans still have the majority, ... We still get to set the agenda. I'm very concerned. Under our watch, we're seeing this happening.