Quotes About Legislation

Dying should not be a taxable event.

Ours is an age of criticism, to which everything must be subjected. The sacredness of religion, and the authority of legislation, are by many regarded as grounds for exemption from the examination by this tribunal, But, if they are exempted, and cannot lay claim to sincere respect, which reason accords only to that which has stood the test of a free and public examination.

Better no law than laws not enforced.

it is impossible to legislate without legislating morality. Try to think of a law that is not based on a moral idea; you won't be able to do it.

Until the Married Women's Property Act of 1870, everything a married woman earned legally belonged to her husband. It wasn't until the Act of 1882 that she could retain her own property once she was married.

I do have a political agenda. It's to have as few regulations as possible.

The thing is, if you control the Senate meetings, you control the gavel. And the gavel is a very important instrument... an instrument of power. An instrument that establishes the agenda.

Gerrymandering isn't just a recent phenomenon, though; the word was coined in 1812 when Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry went to such egregious lengths to redraw the state senate districts in his party's favor that one district took on the shape of a salamander.

opposition in the press, for the first time in American history Congress overrode a presidential veto on a major piece of legislation. On April 9, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 became law. In May, for good measure, Congress finished its amended Freedmen's Bureau bill and passed it over Johnson's veto.

Far from checking the spread of immorality, repression has always extended and deepended it. Thus it is futile to oppose it by rigorous legislation which trespasses on individual liberty.

My viewpoint is the Senate is dysfunctional.

One of the things I give Nancy Pelosi a lot of credit for is that she's able to get things passed and hold her members together because she shows us that she's doing everything possible to get our views into these bills.

I didn't know how to pass a major piece of legislation; I didn't know how to get colleagues to support my views. It took a lot of asking for advice and learning. One of the lessons is that you have to be able to tell people why you care, and you're only going to be able to do that if you talk to someone whom an issue is affecting.

The Children's Safety Act will help protect children from the perpetrators of these vile crimes by strengthening notification requirements for sex offenders and increasing criminal penalties.

The Human Rights Act is a really important constitutional document, it isn't just a villain's charter.

The health care reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last night clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state's sovereignty.

It is one thing to oppose a bill and say, 'Well, I'm smarter than the other side and have more wisdom than they do,' but it is another thing to oppose a law because it violates the very principles upon which this country was founded.

Almost every day, you see an article in the papers about someone violating a campaign finance law.

The EPA code needs to set forth a clear, regular, and rational system of penalties for violations of its code, with the amount of the penalty set in proportion to the amount of pollutant released by a given defendant, and no penalties imposed in the absence of any pollutant released.

As legislators and as Members of Congress, it is our obligation to speak up for those who are being ignored in our society. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) does just that.

The Brady Act was passed in response to what Congress described as an 'epidemic of gun violence.'

We can protect the Second Amendment, we can protect our constitutional rights, and we can still do something about this public health crisis that is gun violence in our communities.

Let's create a regime that makes sale of bullets to anybody not licensed to carry a gun illegal, makes resale illegal, micro-stamps bullets so they can be traced. No Second Amendment issues here. This would have a remarkable impact on both violence and the capacity to solve shooting crimes.

A vast majority of Republicans are on the record saying that they believe the Violence Against Women Act should be reauthorized. Let me be clear: I believe that Violence Against Women Act must be reauthorized.