quotations about the U.S. Congress
Our representative democracy is not working because the Congress that is supposed to represent the voters does not respond to their needs. I believe the chief reason for this is that it is ruled by a small group of old men.
SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
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attributed, Congressional Record, January 6, 2005
Congress is always willing to appropriate money for more and bigger paved roads, anywhere -- particularly if they form loops.
EDWARD ABBEY
Desert Solitare
With Congress, every time they make a joke it's a law. And every time they make a law it's a joke.
WILL ROGERS
Will Rogers: Ambassador of Good Will, Prince of Wit and Wisdom
Next time a man tells you talk is cheap, ask him if he knows how much a session of Congress costs.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
Congress: Bingo with billions.
RED SKELETON
attributed, The Greatest Quotations of All Time
Members of Congress are like the voters in one respect -- they want to go with the winners.
RALPH NADER
Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!
Give us at least a plausible apology why congress should keep their proceedings in secret. They have the power of keeping them in secret as long as they please; for the provision for a periodical publication is too inexplicit and ambiguous to avail any thing. The expression, from time to time, as I have more than once observed, admits of any extension. They may carry on the most wicked and pernicious of schemes under the dark veil of secrecy. The liberties of a people never were nor ever will be secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.
PATRICK HENRY
speech on the expediency of adopting the Federal Constitution, June 7, 1788
Our "bipartisan" Congressional orientation is cohosted by a corporate lobbyist group.... Lobbyists are here. Goldman Sachs is here. Where's labor? Activists? Frontline community leaders?
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ
Twitter post, December 6, 2018
Politics was not just about winning the election, it was about winning decisively--having the momentum to carry out one's vision. Historically, any president who squeaked into office on a narrow margin accomplished much less; he was weakened right out of the gate, and Congress never seemed to let him forget it.
DAN BROWN
Deception Point
In Congress the majority governs, but the minority rules.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
Congress, by the power of taxation, by that of raising an army, and by their control over the militia, have the sword in one hand and the purse in the other. Shall we be safe without either?
PATRICK HENRY
speech on the expediency of adopting the Federal Constitution, June 7, 1788
Talk is cheap -- except when Congress does it.
CULLEN HIGHTOWER
attributed, The Greatest Quotations of All Time
To my mind Judas Iscariot was nothing but a low, mean, premature Congressman.
MARK TWAIN
New York Daily Tribune, Mar. 10, 1873
Sounds become more like other sounds that neighbor them. That is why one congressman oinks, another moos, and another bleats.
BAUVARD
Evergreens Are Prudish
Kid Congress and the Senate, don't scold 'em. They are just children that's never grown up. They don't like to be corrected in company. Don't send messages to 'em, send candy.
WILL ROGERS
advice sent to President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 2, 1932
A new study published by The British Medical Journal found that inactivity can kill you. I mean, these are the kind of findings that just scare the hell out of Congress.
JAY LENO
The Tonight Show, Jul. 23, 2012
The American, if he has a spark of national feeling, will be humiliated by the very prospect of a foreigner's visit to Congress -- these, for the most part, illiterate hacks whose fancy vests are spotted with gravy, and whose speeches, hypocritical, unctuous and slovenly, are spotted also with the gravy of political patronage, these persons are a reflection on the democratic process rather than of it; they expose it in its underwear.
MARY MCCARTHY
"American the Beautiful,", Commentary, Sep. 1947
Congress is like first grade ... only not as well behaved.
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY
Times Herald-Record, March 2, 2013
Congress has always had a soft spot for “experts” who tell members what they want to hear, whether it’s supply-side economists declaring that tax cuts increase revenue or climate-change skeptics insisting that global warming is a myth.
PAUL KRUGMAN
"Fuels on the Hill,", New York Times, Jun. 27, 2008
Although the president is the chief foreign policy maker, Congress has a responsibility to be both an informed critic and constructive partner of the president. The ideal established by the founders is neither for one branch to dominate nor for there to be an identity of views between them. Rather, the founders wisely sought to encourage a creative tension between the president and Congress that would produce policies that advance national interests and reflect the views of the American people.
LEE H. HAMILTON
A Creative Tension