Legislative Expertise Quotes

Daniel Patrick Moynihan [is] easily the most original thinker in the Senate.

People just want to hear some common sense... and I bring to bear the experience in local government and state government and national government - I was the first woman in history on the Senate Finance Committee - not to mention the diplomatic international experience.

I believe being a good senator requires two things. Number one, acumen. Number two, interest.

There never was a time when the services of those who possess talents, integrity, firmness, and sound judgment, were more wanted in Congress.

Legislators know much more about elections than the Court does.

No high qualities of statesmanship are expected from a Congressman.

Probably the most effective legislator we've ever had.

I think Nancy Pelosi is extremely qualified to be speaker of the House, because she has been speaker of the House. I trust her leadership. I trust her judgment.

A politician is a man who understands government, and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead 10 or 15 years.

Well, I was 29 years old when I came to the United States Senate, and I have learned a lot.

The idea of hereditary legislators is as inconsistent as that of hereditary judges, or hereditary juries; and as absurd as an hereditary mathematician, or an hereditary wise man; and as ridiculous as an hereditary poet-laureat.

The value of a Representative or Senator increases in proportion to his length of service.

Our people are slow to learn the wisdom of sending character instead of talent to Congress. Again and again they have sent a man of great acuteness, a fine scholar, a fine forensic orator, and some master of the brawls has crunched him up in his hands like a bit of paper.

I have a proven record as an effective legislator, which I believe is my greatest asset.

We need laws written by people who have confronted life in the real world, not in the sheltered world of trust fund recipients of the insulated cocoon of academia.

Mr. Trump has said that he wants a vice president who knows Washington, is able to deal with the Congress, and could be viewed as somebody who could be president.

There's no better inside player than Nancy Pelosi, and I don't have any animosity towards her.

I'll never have the seniority of lions of the Senate who've been in office for decades. What I do have is a lifetime of experience as a parent and activist, small business owner, and lieutenant governor of Minnesota.

There are only two economists in Congress and hundreds of lawyers. Does that explain why the government is in such a mess?

Very few people in Congress know very much about economics.

You have to build relationships and learn what are the things that are of interest to other members of Congress, what are the things that folks have been taking a lead on for a really long time.

No man can be a competent legislator who does not add to an upright intention and a sound judgement, a certain degree of knowledge on the subjects on which he is to legislate.

We’ve had members of the Senate who have been there 30 years and haven’t gotten good at it yet.

The average 20-year-old serving us in Iraq knows more about their country's national security than the average 20-year political veteran serving in the Congress today.

I am an excellent eviscerator of chickens… a helpful skill in Congress.