Lamar Alexander Quotes

Congress has lost its capacity to manage itself.

Our Congress makes the UN look efficient by comparison

Congress actively undermines the best of legislative practice.

Technology has changed almost everything. One institution remains stubbornly anchored in the past. It's where I work - the United States Congress, a 19th Century institution using 20th Century technology to respond to 21st Century problems.

You can see how dysfunctional this Congress is.

Why is it so hard for the Congress to do something for the public?

In this political climate, there is no possibility of passing anything comprehensive.

Overall, Congress is dysfunctional, partisan, and polarized, and it isn’t getting anything done. We need commissions to break out of divisive partisanship.

Congress seems to be very good at doing nothing.

There's a lot of good, bipartisan legislation that passes in committee and then gets bottled up. As a businessman, it surprised me.

The degree of polarization that currently exists in Washington is such where I think it's fair to say if I presented a cure for cancer, getting legislation passed to move that forward would be a nail-biter.

It's no great secret, number one, in my view, and I think the view of most Americans, that Congress itself is pretty dysfunctional. We are not addressing the real needs of the American people. And second of all, philosophically, there is a huge division between the House and the Senate.

With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership.

Unfortunately, the Senate Democrats have become an extreme party. They have become a party that has abdicated their responsibilities. Under Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats, we have a do-nothing Senate.

Given the slow pace of Washington's bureaucracy, policymakers are often busy solving yesterday's problems. This rearview mirror approach afflicts Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress.

First, the American legislative process isn't well suited to large and complex measures.

It's a cliche that the Senate is broken, and like most cliches, it's true.

This Congress is simply not doing its job under Republican leadership.

There is a problem in Washington, and the problem is bigger than a continuing resolution. It is bigger than Obamacare. It is even bigger than the budget. The most fundamental problem and the frustration is that the men and women in Washington aren't listening.

In Washington it's much easier to stop something than make something happen.

Congress has been reformed so much that it can't get anything done.

Everyone in Washington knows what needs to be done. They just don’t do it because there’s always someone else they can blame.

In the United States Senate we have to break the culture of procrastination.

Has Washington become so dysfunctional that even when we all agree on something, we can’t get it done?

If you're not comfortable with delay, frustration and impatience, get out of the Senate. It's the nature of the institution, but I think we've taken it to an art form.