Sam Graves Quotes

As a legislator, I saw how effective I could be by being transparent, posting and explaining all of my votes.

People are not really interested in what politicians talk about, but what they are really interested in is how their hard-earned tax money is spent.

If you think that my job is to rob the Federal Treasury on your behalf, you have voted for the wrong man

Thomas Edison invented a voting machine for legislatures. Politicians hated it. They didn’t want people to know how they voted.

Thomas Edison invented a voting machine so that legislators can just press a button. It was a failure. Legislators didn’t want people to know how they had voted.

Everyone without extraordinary research skills ought to be able to know what is happening inside the government, how it operates, where their tax dollars are going. Then they can make better decisions in the electoral process.

I think the American people deserve to have the issues debated, regardless of which side they're on, so that they are fully aware of what their representatives and senators are voting for and voting against.

Look, you're not going to get me to say that Democrats don't make mistakes. We do. I mentioned two areas - pension reform and seniority and tenure. I've done both - I've advocated for both. I've advocated for - seek for reform as well.

We absolutely need to reform the Congressional budget-writing process.

The time has come for us to draw the line. The time has come for the responsible leaders of both political parties to take a stand against overgrown Government and for the American taxpayer.

I always try to keep my constituents as up-to-date as possible with what's going on here in Washington.

But in this Congress, accountability is just a catch phrase, usually directed elsewhere. Demands to personal responsibility or corporate accountability abound, but rarely congressional accountability or fiscal responsibility.

We work for the public, and I believe that if a senator wants to block a piece of legislation or a nominee, they owe the public an explanation.

If Congress is unable to do its job and pass a federal budget, then I do not believe we should receive a salary.

If we had decided on January 5, in the new House of Representatives, to make no new spending bills, the debt ceiling would've still been hit, because, those are bills that are coming in as a result of purchases and commitments made by the administration and the previous Congress.

Elections should be held on April 16th- the day after we pay our income taxes. That is one of the few things that might discourage politicians from being big spenders.

I understand that government should live within its means, value the money it holds in trust from you the taxpayer, avoid waste and, above all else, observe the first maxim of good government: namely, do no avoidable harm.

The Senate needs 60 votes to pass anything. They have to compromise with liberal Democrats to spend more money. Even though arguably we have control of the Senate, we really don't.

If one of my colleagues wants to block a bill, they should stand up in front of the American people and explain why.

We're not even supposed to have a break in August if we have not passed the appropriations bills. It's in the House rules.

The Senate must stop doing so much of its business in secret, behind closed doors…. A bill that affects the nation’s security has been held up for months by a secret hold and cannot see the light of day…. There is no accountability…. The person who exercises a hold ought to be identified…. Secret holds have been the bane of the United States Senate for decades. So much for sunshine in the United States Senate.

The best legislator is the one who votes for all appropriations and against all taxes.

I don't care what kind of speeches you make as long as you don't vote against the appropriations.

Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I call the attention of the House to these bridge bills that are coming up .... This bill is typical of the type of bill that should be objected to.

We cover Congress only when it gets to the final vote on something, too late for the public to respond.