Legislative Service Quotes

I continued to serve in Congress until 2001.

When I was elected, I was the youngest member of the Tennessee congressional delegation; now, I'm one of the oldest. In fact, I have members of my staff who weren't even born when I took office. That tells me it's time for a new chapter.

I will leave the U.S. Congress when the term for which I was elected expires in January 2011 and return to the practice of law with a sense of duty fulfilled.

I should hate to think that the Senate was as tired of me at the beginning of my service as I am of the Senate at the end.

I have been in the Senate for 30 years practicing comedy.

The fact that a New Hampshire legislator's position is not seen as a career or a way of supporting a family has meant that it draws women. At times, I think men who might be looking for a paid career have known that they couldn't make one out of serving in the legislature. So there's a little more space for women.

I am not a career politician, even though this is my 12th year in the United States House of Representatives.

Either you die in Congress or you get out before you are 60 so you can still do something else.

I was a heart surgeon before I came to Congress, and I've worked many holidays on behalf of my patients.

I represented the 4th District of South Carolina... from the election '92 until election '98. And then I was out six years and then came back for another six years between the election 2004 and the election 2010.

For eight years, I've served on the Indian Affairs committee, two years as the ranking member. I've been on that committee since Day One. I will stay on the committee for as long as I'm in the Senate because of my commitment to making a difference for Alaska Natives.

Coming to serve in the Senate and also running for the Senate in a short time period is not for the faint of heart. But I am not fainthearted.

In the House, I was named one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, and that's a title I plan on continuing to hold in the Senate.

And always remember, Abraham Lincoln only served one term in Congress, too.

At the end of the day, there's not an office complex anywhere on these grounds that I wouldn't be honored to have as a sitting member of Congress.

I served 14 years in the state legislature and served in both the minority and majority.

Once it becomes impossible for members of Congress to make a career of legislative service, the temptation to bend a vote for whatever reason may yield to the better angels of their nature.

Today I am announcing that I will not seek a tenth term in the United States Congress this November.

I never envisioned retiring out of the Congress.

I was a very, very good congressman.

Before holding elective office - 12 years in the Wyoming House of Representatives and 18 years in the U.S. Senate - I served a different type of time. I was on probation for a federal offense committed as a teenager.

All Americans have benefited from the dedicated service of Representative Henry Waxman. In every battle and in every moment that mattered most, Rep. Waxman stood up for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the wild places we cherish.

Bright, serious people who understand policy still do run for and serve in the House and Senate, but they are a small minority. Service in Congress is losing its allure.

I was elected six times to represent southern Arizona, in the State Legislature and then in Congress.