Barack Obama Quotes

I'd like to see a comprehensive gun control bill brought to the floor, but if we have to do it in several votes, that's fine, too. But give us the vote. Let us make our case to our colleagues on the floor and have a vote.

Legislative proposals are not merely vehicles for expressing policy, they are devices for getting policy decided.

If you vote no, you don't go. [The compromise passed.]

To delay action until there Is one hundred percent certainty Is always to postpone political action forever.

Caucus

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

We have a lot of folks who talk about immigration reform but haven't put their name on a bill.

I'm not going to speculate about legislation that I haven't seen before.

It is a pipe dream to think that that bill is going to the floor and be voted on.

If I had to vote for the bill again, I'd vote for it tomorrow.

The last thing members of the committee want to do is pass legislation.

If you're in Congress, you vote and give speeches. But governors have to make decisions every day, and presidents have to make decisions every day.

I'm always going to have a strong preference for things that can actually pass into legislation. We can talk about big issues and have big goals while also working on pragmatic things.

For me, arguably, the European Parliament is the best-functioning European institution. They are extremely good at law-making; they're extremely good at finding compromise under pressure.

In a parliamentary democracy, it is the job of parliament to decide the law, not the government.

I demonstrated through my work that I can rally other people to support legislation and get it passed.

I've taken firm positions on issues the voters care about, and I will get my positions implemented.

If a tax hike makes it to my desk, I'll veto it in less time than it takes Vanna White to turn the letters V-E-T-O!

Immigration reforms are always controversial. Our Congress was created to muster political will to answer such challenges. Today we didn't, but tomorrow we will. I yield the floor.

I'd rather violate every one of the damn conventions and see my bills passed, than sit back in my office, all nice and proper, and watch 'em die.

The people who cast the votes decide nothing; the people who count the votes decide everything.

It will be an unusual dynamic [in Congress]. It won't be like the rallying behind President [Barack] Obama in 2009 or behind President [George W.] Bush, even at the beginning of his presidency, or even [Bill] Clinton in '93, when he got his budget through on a partisan vote.

The bulk of government is not legislation but administration.

And, when the votes are counted, let everybody, including the candidates, get into a good humor as quick as they got into a bad one.

You can display no greater wisdom than by resisting proposals for needless legislation. It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.