Tom Udall Quotes
A majority of senators should be able to adopt rules at the beginning of each Congress.
Udall, Tom. "Resolution Amending the Senate Rules." Congressional Record, vol. 157, 5 Jan. 2011, p. S14.
The Chairmen of the Committees then had tremendous, almost unilateral power. The chairman reached seniority by being elected over and over and had little opposition. At the time they were almost all older Democratic Congressmen from the "Solid South", very conservative and still racists despite the 1964 Civil Rights Act. They were outraged when a Freshmen member of Congress who rarely made a public statement, took on the most powerful members of the House and wanted to reform the Seniority. But Ms. Chisholm was a teacher in her professional life, and by challenging the seniority system and attracting the enmity of most of the Chairmen, the media and the public started to cover the dispute and Chisholm explained to America exactly how the system worked and how undemocratic and racist it was. Her effort put the Seniority System on the public agenda, and reforms evolved over the next decades." She was the first Black woman to be elected to Congress and was the first Black woman to actively campaign for the Presidency
The sarcasm refers to the power usually held by key committee chairmen and the influence of the White House on Congressional legislation—especially budgetary.
Two years later with bipartisan support Speaker Joseph Cannon was stripped of his party and the Rules Committee was created.
In the summer of 1989 the House was anxious to adjourn for the summer recess but the savings and loan bailout legislation was stalled. The leaders of both parties forged a compromise which was not enthusiastically received by their members. A Democratic leader advised:
Thomas Stewart Udall is an American politician who served as a United States Senator for New Mexico from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. Representative for New Mexico's 3rd congressional district from 1999 to 2009 and was the Attorney General of New Mexico from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Udall family, he is the son of Stewart Udall, the nephew of Mo Udall, and the cousin of Mark Udall. He was the dean of New Mexico's congressional delegation. Udall was first elected in the 2008 Senate race. He did not seek a third term in 2020, making him the only Democratic senator to retire that cycle.
