Quotes About Congress

RBG: I should define the term activism as I used it for that purpose. It is a court that is not at all hesitant to overturn legislation passed by the Congress

Sometimes Congress is helpful. There's a difference between a case that involves constitutional interpretation, where the Court says, "This is what the Constitution means." Well, that's what it means until the Court overrules its decision or there's a constitutional amendment. But when you're dealing with statutes like our principal employment discrimination law, Title VII, if the Court gets it wrong, Congress can fix it.

When Congress passes new emission standards, we hire 50 more engineers and GM hires 50 more lawyers.

We should entrust to the people the most fundamental decision of a democracy; namely, who should lead their country." This Republican argument, which was made so often, was political cowardice dressed up as democratic deference. Impeachment existed precisely because the Framers believed that sometimes Congress should not wait for the voters to make a change. To pass the buck to their constituents, as so many Republican senators did, was to shirk their constitutionally mandated duty.

On the other hand, Trump's abuse of power regarding Ukraine had more grave consequences. He put Ukrainian lives at risk; he rewarded Russian aggression; he jeopardized American national security; he misled our allies; he undermined Congress's power of the purse; and he lied to everyone about what he was doing and why.

In a less polarized environment, the president and Congress would have responded to these findings with bipartisan outrage,

Only once before, in the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison, which established the principle of judicial review, had the Court invalidated an act of Congress on constitutional grounds. John McLean of Ohio and Benjamin R. Curtis of Massachusetts dissented; Curtis was so outraged by the decision that he resigned from the bench. Much

Democrats in Congress whipped up fears of Soviet missiles and attacked the Eisenhower administration for allowing the United States to fall behind. The

Dear men in Congress, You think banning birth control is conservative progress? You think sanctioning my ovaries won't bring me to violence? How about I tell you what to do with your caucus? It is now illegal to think about me topless. To keep your lotion where your socks is. To refer to powerful women as monsters like those jocks at Fox did.

Congress has many more powdered milk experts than intelligence experts. Of the 535 members serving in the 116th Congress, only eighteen ever worked in an intelligence agency, but dozens of representatives came from dairy districts in New York, Wisconsin, Vermont, Texas, and elsewhere. That's better than it used to be. In 2009, only two members of Congress had prior intelligence careers.114 The same year, the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus was founded with more than fifty members.115

Fewer longtermers means more rookies. In the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), one of the highest turnover periods, 11 of 19 House Intelligence Committee members and 7 of 17 Senate Intelligence Committee members were serving for the first time.

The synoptic Gospels suggest that the entire Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, met on the first night of Passover to determine Jesus's fate—this would be tantamount to gathering all the members of the Supreme Court, Congress, and the White House press corps together late on Christmas Eve to debate a minor case of law. If

After the war, and after he had been thanked by Congress and President George Washington himself, Captain Oakes got the idea of turning his huge warehouse into a school, a permanent contribution to the life of the town and the nation.

I am maintaining my schedule of commuting to Washington, D.C. each week from Oregon so that I can spend my weekends and days when we are not in session traveling to communities throughout my district.

One of the big changes in the Congress since I first came to Washington is that all of these folks go home every weekend. They used to play golf together; their families got to know each other, go to dinner at each other's homes at weekends - and these would be people who were political adversaries.

We operate in a world where you can have a package from Amazon arrive on your doorstep the same day; where Uber has a private driver at your front door within minutes; but when it comes to Congress, it takes three weeks for someone to get a form letter response to his or her questions.

I make a prediction here and now, and, my friends, I want you to watch the proceedings of Congress in these coming weeks of this extra session, or of the next regular session, to see whether I am right or not.

After we were hit on September 11, 2001, we were in a state of national shock. Less than six weeks later, on October 26 2001, the U.S.A. Patriot Act was passed by a Congress that had little chance to debate it; many said that they scarcely had time to read it.

I remember clearly the afternoon I sat down with Obama. In December 2006, he was preparing for a family trip, and the decision to run weighed heavily on his mind. As a progressive member of Congress from Illinois, I was excited and energized by the prospect of my senator, and my friend, running for president.

I welcome a discussion on a long-term, pro-active approach to disaster relief for Americans. Until Congress arrives at a conclusion, however, we must continue to honor America's honorable tradition of helping Americans recover for natural catastrophes.

The powers of Congress are totally inadequate to preserve the balance between the respective States, and oblige them to do those things which are essential for their own welfare or for the general good.

It is statesmanlike for the administration and Congress to look to our nation's welfare beyond their terms in office.

Bill Clinton worked with a Republican Congress. They certainly had their differences on many issues, but look at what they also accomplished. Welfare reform - that was maybe the most significant social policy achievement in two generations.

What type of politics is the Congress practising, wherein its leaders commit the sin of looting money meant for the welfare of pregnant women and poor children?