Mark Pryor Quotes

I think if you're going to get anything done in the Senate, you have to be on the same sheet of music. If you don't get people on the same sheet of music it comes out pretty horrible.

Moderation and bipartisan consensus go hand in hand.

But if we can work with people in other parties to get the right answer for the country we'll do that.

I haven't given up on working... across the aisle on issues and maybe it'll take an election or two for that to fully ferment, maybe it you know sometimes it takes awhile for people to realize what the best path is.

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.

I'll be reaching across the aisle to find opportunities to work with Democrats on the issues that desperately need to be addressed.

It seems like when I was growing up there was more compromise, wanting to work with each other, and I think all of them - all of the lawmakers - have hearts to do what's right, and they all are passionate about it.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

If the parties get too close together they lose their identities, if they get too far apart you're not going to get a whole lot done because you almost always need to have some folks on the other side of the aisle to accomplish anything.

If ever there was a time for true bipartisanship, it is today.

Folks are really tired of this rabid division between Republicans and Democrats. Folks want people to come together and solve the problems and the challenges of America.

Presidents should do whatever possible and practical to encourage an environment of cooperation and bipartisanship. And they should maintain a certain level of decorum, diplomacy and decency. But, at the end of the day, presidents get elected to enact change.

Whether we're Democrats or Republicans or independents, we have to learn to hang together or we're gonna hang separately.

I know Barack Obama. And I believe that as president, he'll pursue the common good by seeking common ground rather than trying to divide us.

When it's for the good of your state, you put partisan differences aside.

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.

Bipartisanship means you work together to work it out.

Too often bipartisanship is equated with centrism or deal-cutting. Bipartisanship is not the opposite of principle. One can be very conservative or very liberal and still have a bipartisan mind-set. Such a mind-set acknowledges that the other party is also patriotic and may have some good ideas. It acknowledges that national unity is important, and that aggressive partisanship deepens cynicism, sharpens political vendettas and depletes the national reserve of good will that is critical to our survival in hard times

I am a Republican who is prepared to compromise—and contrary to the current misconceptions, compromise is not a capitulation of one’s principles

That is a good bill. If you can beat it, go on and beat it, but you ought to give me a fair shake.

Truth is the glue that holds government together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.

As a U.S. Senator, I've tried my best to practice politics the way I think it's supposed to be practiced - always looking for common ground and truly enjoying the people I meet along the way.

One of the ways usually that you build a bipartisan agreement is one side gives up a little, and the other side gives up a little.

I wasn't looking for a hobby. If I were looking for a hobby, it wouldn't be the United States Senate. That's one of the toughest jobs I'd probably ever do. I just felt there wasn't enough compromise going on: People were too far to the left, too far to the right, with no one trying to build a compromise.

Good governance requires working toward common ground. It isn't easy.