Richard Gephardt Quotes on Government (13 Quotes)

We are working together here in the Congress in a completely nonpartisan way,

If enacted this year, campaign finance reform would reduce the power of corporations and wealthy individuals in our politics, ... Unfortunately, the special interests and their Republican allies in Congress are fighting to keep these bills from passing.

The Republicans say the government ought to be run like a business, ... How many businesses give dividends without knowing their profits

Look, he's got the House, he's got the Senate, ... He can do whatever he wants. I mean, the bulk of the people in the Republican Party would like to have a 2 trillion tax cut. I'm worried it'll be a 3 trillion tax cut.

My hope is that we can effectively and expeditiously receive this plan from the president, work it through the Congress, and try to make it a reality as quickly as possible,

One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense and decency, ... The considered judgment of the American people is not going to rise or fall on the fine distinctions of a legal argument but on straight talk and the truth. It is time for the president and the Congress to follow that common sense for the good of the country.

Al Gore is for the McCain-Feingold bill. In fact, he said it will be the first bill that he sends to the new Congress if he's president. George Bush is really not very enthusiastic about it at all. I'm not sure it would be his tenth bill sent to Congress.

You had a case in the Senate where we knew we had a plume had gone up. We had a letter that had the material in it. So you knew these people were exposed. There was not an understanding last week that the people in the post office were exposed. And so maybe in a way, we are all having to learn about something we don't know enough about, but I think now people see the need to err on the side of caution.

People are looking to Congress for leadership and constructive action. Instead, the Republicans in Congress have served up inaction in a fast and furious blame game,

I have enormous friendship and respect with Tom Daschle. Always have had and always will have. And I have nothing but admiration and respect for what he is trying to do with this in the Senate. As he said yesterday, it doesn't matter where you start, what matters is where you wind up. We have different bodies and we have different ways of dealing with it,

This framework was used in recent years during U. S. military operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq, and provided an effective forum for intensive dialogue and collaboration between the administration and Congress,

Government needs to act in the name of their safety,

will sign whatever bill we're able to send him. He obviously supports the Republican version of the bill in the House. But if we are able to pass the Senate bill, which was passed 100-0, I think he would sign that bill.