Anthony Lake Quotes

The question of our time is rapidly becoming can government get things done?

I happened to have the privilege of serving in Congress. It will be 16 years at the end of this term. And I think I made a difference here on important issues.

It is no longer appropriate for me as an American to sit by and expect my government to get it done.

Most of the energy devoted to political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.

In Sacramento you simply had to think about what the law ought to be and leave it to someone else to implement. In San Francisco, you hear about it the next day.

No government at any level has all the answers.

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

Those of us who are pro-life should demand more from Congress.

What kind of government is this? This is a human being. This is not right, and I'm telling everybody you better call your congressman, because they're going to run your life.

I enjoyed my stay in the Congress. Most people do not. And too many people who have been elected really don't understand the nature of government.

Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.

Being a cabinet minister is not like running a company. A country is not a company.

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.

Do you want to make a statement or do you want to make a law?

…Impeachment is a political, rather than a legal proceeding.

Congress doesn’t act unless there is an emergency.

The United States is running a 21st century government under 1940s rules.

On Capitol Hill we like to make tough speeches. We don’t like to make tough choices.

Pay attention to matters of importance.

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

I wish twenty-four hours, a good night's sleep and a day spent in the open air could always elapse before any government officials take action on matters of grave importance.

We’ll protest against the Drone Program in the National Assembly and then ignore it.

A surprising number of government committees will make important decisions on fundamental matters with less attention than each individual would give to buying a suit.

In our government we drive decisions either by leadership of by crises. If the leadership is not there, we rely on crises.

In a political sense, there is one problem that underlies all of the others. The problem is making government sufficiently responsive to the people.