William Marshall Thomas Quotes

The conference committee, that wonderful wrestling ring of compromise where House and Senate versions of bill are wrenched into law ...

We have a constitution that says that the way you get things is by passing legislation, not by threatening to destroy the country unless you get your way.

Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, and Clinton passed legislation because they understood and appreciated the difficult political process. They fought for their principles yet recognized the need for compromise to get anything done.

Ultimately, Congressional medicine is like veterinary medicine: It must be strong enough to work, and tasty enough to swallow.

In the Senate, where 60 votes are required to do anything important, you have to work with your colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

I've thought about it, not a lot, but I thought my relationship with Congress - the Democrats and Republicans - would help me get some things done. Not everything, but at least they'd be willing to try.

I have an ability to work collegially across a wide range of interests in the caucus and in the Congress, and an ability to work on a bipartisan basis. Appropriators pride themselves on that.

If you look through history, all of the great work we've done in Congress has been around a table of compromise, when it comes to the most difficult problems.

I learned some valuable lessons about the legislative process, the importance of bipartisan cooperation and the wisdom of taking small steps to get a big job done.

Congress was the first branch of the government. It was designed as a rough and tumble place.

In Congressional legislating, most of the game is played between the 30-yard lines. The great forces of inertia and compromise … in the past have frequently pushed liberal and conservative players toward the middle of the field.

All legislation of any consequence is a compromise. You have to recognize that.

Managing the House of Representatives is like herding cats.

The way you get anything done in the Congress is through coalitions.

[Addressing Congress:] The people await action. They did not send us here to bicker ... Let us negotiate soon—and hard. But in the end, let us produce.

Nearly all legislation is the result of compromise.

Getting something through the House is only half the battle. So you put things in the House bill that you know will be taken out in conference and you leave things out of the House bill that will be in the Senate bill. It's like a chess game.

You can't have your own way in Congress.

You can't write laws in America if you don't compromise.

If you vote no, you don't go. [The compromise passed.]

The Senate is a place filled with goodwill and good intentions, and if the road to hell is paved with them, it's a pretty good detour.

If we want to influence the discussion in Congress, we can't oppose everything.

The Congress is the place where ordinary mortals go about the business of compromise—of compromise that gets us through the day.

The Capitol

From time to time we must remind ourselves that the President has a role in the legislative process.