Daniel Patrick Moynihan Quotes

Members of Congress are trustees of the people.

When people say - 'Well, do you miss being a judge since you're in Congress,' I go - 'Only when I want people to sit down and shut up.'

I am not a federal employee. I am a constitutional officer. My job is the Constitution of the United States, I am not a government employee. I am in the Constitution.

Congress, even with its frustrations, is the greatest instrument for justice and human welfare in the world.

Most members of Congress are politicians. They're bores.

It is crucial that members of Congress cast votes that are supportive of the values upon which our nation was founded: equality, freedom, and opportunity for all people.

To make representation real and actual, the number of Representatives ought to be adequate; they ought to mix with the people, think as they think, feel as they feel, ought to be perfectly amenable to them, and thoroughly acquainted with their interest and condition:

Everyone in Congress represents Washington.

When I came here I thought I worked for the President. But I didn’t realize that I also worked for 534 other people at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue who all think that they are presidents.

Those members of Congress who want to bring back pork to their districts should stand up proudly and be counted.

Congressmen are the only group in America who every two years have to go out and beg for their jobs.

Members of Congress often have to have testimony to hang their hat on if they wish to do something for you or do something for the country.

Give members of Congress a sense of equity in your administration.

The House of Representatives is the center of power of the most powerful nation in the world.

Congress is the great commanding theater of this nation, and the threshold to whatever department of office a man is qualified to enter.

The Congress must regain the will to govern.

The members of Congress are very, very good about sensing what people are upset about.

The appointment of subordinates or the nominations for appointments are just as much a part of our [congress's] responsibility as any other which we have, and a share in those appointments ... is one of the recognized rights of the people.

Members of Congress will pay attention to members of their own districts.

There are over 30,000 lobbyists circling around the 535 members of Congress. The people should have their Senator as their lobbyist.

As the House is designed to provide a reflection of the mood of the moment, the Senate is meant to reflect the continuity of the past—to preserve the delicate balance of justice between the majority’s whims and the minority’s rights.

I have a Congress on my hands.

We have a Congress to serve the people who provide the money.

The traditions and courtesies of the Senators and Representatives stand in the way of the Executive, however, as defined by the Constitution, and no man who is trained in the congressional school fails to suffer by them in a way that men of merely executive experience know nothing of.

Congress is the voice, the conscience, and the judgment of the American people