Dick Gephardt Quotes (115 Quotes)

You cannot short-circuit and push all 535 people out of the room and make the decision between two or three people, ... We are not going to let them run over people's right to understand what's in the bill.

To beat George Bush , we need a leader who can go toe-to-toe with George Bush in these difficult, dangerous times on national security, toe-to-toe,

Let's say somebody lost an arm or died as a result of mistreatment in the system, as the result of a medical decision made by an HMO. You want the person to be able to go to court to be able to get damages for that mistreatment,

As I've said many times, this is the worst Congress that's ever been in the building. They have not done their work and now they want to get everything done in one bill in the last five minutes and it's not a reasonable way to act they've been very inept in the way they've run this Congress,

I have a message for the president. We should be focused on a long-term security plan that reduces the danger to our military personnel.

It's one thing to talk the talk, it's another thing to walk the walk, ... We've got to get labor and environment in these treaties, and we've got to do it when the treaties are before the Congress. That's when it counts.

I think John Edwards is a very exciting figure in American politics, and he is going to run a great campaign and be a great partner with John Kerry,

I think when everything is finally considered I'll have a lot of support -- strong support -- not only from labor unions but from working people.

We can take an important step today back to the politics of respect and trust and fairness and forgiveness,

Why would we want to keep a tax cut that's failed? Why would we not want to go back to the Clinton tax code? And why would we not want to help every family more with a health-care plan like mine? Let's help average people. Let's be Democrats.

We should all follow the rule of law, and I'm positive the vice president will do that and I think George Bush will do that, ... This Week.

A lot of the economy is psychological perception, ... And we have created the perception this bill was going to happen. If we now withdraw it because we can't get a huge tax break for corporate America in it, we're going to really cause problems in this economy.

Today, we got the teachers, and now we must come back with a new Congress and get the (improved buildings). We are thrilled that our children are going to have a better education.

It's wrong, deeply wrong to excuse or rationalize the uncertain gain to come from tolerating the systematic denial of political and economic rights,

will cause the parties, and the court, to go back and see if they can come up with an appropriate, sensible agreement.

I hope we can get back to what I call the kitchen table. Everyday issues that people are really worried about and focused on.

a partisan vote that was a disgrace to our country and our Constitution.

Gingrich characterized the bipartisan discussion as extraordinarily good, ... we have gone over a lot of questions. We have not resolved those questions.

Obviously, what we seek is what has been sought in the Senate, and that is a specific commitment that this will be brought up by a certain time on the floor of the House in a way that there is time for a full debate, consideration of various alternatives and an ability on the part of the House to vote on this matter before we leave.

grounded in serious foreign policy experience and expertise.

Howard Dean has spent the last year criticizing me and other candidates at every opportunity, ... Now, as he makes a series of embarrassing gaffes that underscore the fact he is not well-equipped to challenge George Bush, he suddenly wants to change the rules of the game.

It is our view and we believe it's the view of the American people that this investigation be done as quickly as humanly possible, ... Given this will ... the choice is clear. We can resolve on a bipartisan effort to do the work that needs to be done in the next 30 days in the House or we might face two years of ongoing hearings.

It's an outrage to the senior citizens and the people of the United States, ... We will not rest until we get that benefit in law.

In light of the gravity of the charges outlined in the guilty verdict against Mr. Traficant, I think the prudent course of action would be an immediate resignation,

one of the most important votes we will take in this Congress.

gifted national leader and a model public servant.

I voted for the Reagan tax cut (in 1981). It was a mistake, ... We have to learn from history. It was a worthy experiment, but it was a mistake and ... we don't want to make it again.

This is the most important election in my lifetime. We must defeat George Bush in November, ... John Kerry has the life experience, the personal character and strength.

In the past couple days, it was clear we unions had become the entire operation, ... There just wasn't any enthusiasm for Dick.

free and fair trade ... policies that raise standards so that everyone does better.

It the tax bill gives the bulk of the benefits to the top five percent of taxpayers. Given the history of the last 10 years, when people at the top have done very well, people in the middle and at the bottom are struggling. This tax bill needed to go to people in the middle and people trying to get in the middle. It's a fundamental mistake and I don't care if I'm the only one saying this. I'm going to say what I believe in and what's in my heart. ... Meet the Press

This is war. And we will do everything in our power together to make sure that terrorists never, ever again can create this mayhem, this chaos, this violence against our people and our country.

I think it's a really poor statement. It's disingenuous. On the one hand, he says it's a good thing -- and then in the next breath, he says it doesn't make it us any safer. ... How can anybody say we're safer with Saddam Hussein loose in the world torturing his people and causing all the problems he's caused for 30 years

Any delay would have given Saddam Hussein time to reconstitute his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and undermine international support for our efforts. It also would have been contrary to the president's commitment in November to respond militarily to future Iraqi provocations.

Those young people in Afghanistan are not fighting for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. They are fighting for the greatest country that has ever existed on earth. That is the United States of America.

What we have is two important values in conflict: freedom of speech and our desire for healthy campaigns in a healthy democracy. You can't have both.

How can we decide on the fairness of the process without determining what is in the interviews, grand jury testimony and boxes of documents that, for totally unexplained reasons, the Independent Counsel withheld

President Bush has not yet lived up to his promise to be a reformer with results, ... During the campaign, he said he would fight for bipartisan bills with strong support from all Americans. But instead of putting people first, too often he has put special interests first.

We'll have an investigation in the Congress, ... We should. You should, after any war, review what happened, what the intelligence was and whether things were done right.

I share the administration's goals in dealing with Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction, ... an important first step.

In November, Al Gore will be elected president of the United States and we will take back the House,

We walked to demonstrate our deep displeasure at the action of the majority party they disregarded the clear will of the majority of the American people,

I don't think we've done enough here on our continuity-of-government plan, ... It isn't enough to just have continuity in the executive branch. We need it in the judicial branch and the legislative branch.

It is my hope that we don't get side-tracked by the right wing into a debate over a phony constitutional amendment, ... I strongly oppose such an effort as purely political and unnecessarily divisive at the expense of those who already suffer from discrimination.

I said, 'This is a matter of life and death, and we've got to do our best to work together to keep our people safe.' And I've really tried to do that. I found him to be hard to help.

Well I think the meeting is a sign of trust ... I thought there was a lot of good positive developments. I don't have any concern about our ability to work together. We just need to get on it and get it done and start making progress.

So instead of trying to hold them accountable for what they have done wrong, it seems that some in the Republican leadership want to exempt them from any accountability in the legal system for what they have done wrong.

Clearly, the election is going to be won in the Midwest and the Rust Belt, places where President Bush has been campaigning -- Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio -- places very similar to Iowa.

the president's budget is a good budget. The president's budget would get a majority of Democrats in the House and in the Senate.

He said ... Medicare was the worst federal program ever, ... Howard, you were agreeing with the very plan that Newt Gingrich wanted to pass, which was a 270 billion cut in Medicare.