Mark Udall Quotes

Improving some of the rules under which the Senate functions can begin to replace some of the bad habits Washington has developed with better ones.

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.

We'll look to the fall and if there is a new president and a new Senate that's part of a Congress willing to change, that's the next step.

Someday a political genius will come along and make the Senate work.

Since I joined Congress, I've been shocked at how many times we were forced to vote on 1,000-plus-page bills without ample time to read or review what was in the final legislation. It's no wonder Congress doesn't enact good policy.

I want to have a good vote in the Senate so we send the message that the Republicans and the Democrats are together in favor of immigration reform.

I've seen Congress do some remarkable things within a short period of time.

I know how to take good ideas and turn them into sensible law at great odds.

In the absence of a Congress ready to act to reduce gun violence, we will keep working to create a different Congress.

Look, I think by the time my case was over and other ones, everybody on both sides of the aisle in Congress said we can't run a government by this kind of process and they repealed the law and that's good.

I'm a progressive. The progression has to be manifested in a new direction in policies and legislation.

And, as you recall, last year, people were asking us, don't vote on the bill until you read every part of the bill. So, as a good attorney and as a good legislator, I think it's my responsibility to read the amendments.

I think there's bipartisan support in the Senate to pass a good reform bill.

I think, from the broad political spectrum, not just the Freedom Caucus, I think there is a need for internal reform that is how we bring bills up, getting back to regular order, how we offer amendments or don't offer amendments.

The only way to improve the GOP brand and make good public policy is to fix the process. This requires transforming the way Congress does business.

I learned something important in my race against Senator Brown: voters want political leaders who are willing to break the partisan gridlock. They want fewer closed-door roadblocks and more public votes on legislation that could improve their lives.

The Senate should not be a graveyard for good ideas.

We have a new set of Congressmen who have really come to burn the House down.

Let the filibuster be no more. Let the people decide.

We’ve been through the House. We’ve been through the Senate. We’ve been through the rantings and ravings. The time is now.

If somebody feels strongly enough to be willing to stop the Senate, he should at least be required to be on the floor and explain why.

Stop sending out press releases and start passing some bills...

If I could solve these problems with passing laws in the Congress, I would do so.

I am under no illusion that amending the Voting Rights Act in Congress will be easy, but with bipartisan calls for legislation to address it, I'm confident we are moving in the right direction.

I've taken legislation that people have been trying to pass for 10 or 15 years, and I got it passed.