Legislative Effectiveness Quotes

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced

With bad laws and good civil servants it's still possible to govern. But with bad civil servants even the best laws can't help.

Unlike Washington, the California legislature has proved that cooperation is both possible and essential to successful policymaking, while stubborn absolutism will have you trailing head lice in popularity polls.

We live in a stage of politics, where legislators seem to regard the passage of laws as much more important than the results of their enforcement.

I will never support amnesty legislation because it will not work.

There are two kinds of horses; there are show horses, and there are work horses, and you've got to decide in the United States Senate whether you want to be a show horse or a work horse.

If Congress can't get a budget passed when they're supposed to, it's just common sense they shouldn't get paid.

The shelf life of a seventh-year State of the Union address is about five minutes. Presidents can propose stuff. They're probably not likely to get it done.

You can pass all the gun legislation you want. None of it will make me feel any more or less safe than I do right at this moment.

When Congress writes a good law, then there are fewer lawsuits trying to interpret it.

Congress has lost its capacity to manage itself.

Scaling back the campaign finance reform bill may get more Republicans aboard, but it leaves many of us who have been involved in the reform movement for years in believing that we are doing something and accomplishing nothing.

There is only one thing I want to say about Ohio that has a political tinge, and that is that I think a mistake has been made of recent years in Ohio in failing to continue as our representatives the same people term after term. I do not need to tell a Washington audience, among whom there are certainly some who have been interested in legislation, that length of service in the House and in the Senate is what gives influence.

Is it any wonder, why the approval ratings of the Congress go up every time we go into recess?

People may have their opinions about Senator Helms, but he was highly effective and he took care of his constituency. I learned all those lessons from him, and I bring a great deal to the table because of that.

We in Congress have the money but we don’t have the expertise.

Jon Kyl did a really good job of presenting a case and moving issues. John McCain probably is one of the more effective legislators, getting things on through the process. I always thought, too - and this may seem kind of odd - Richard Shelby was just an effective guy a lot of times at stopping things.

Congress has been productive when focusing on bites of policy that don't inflame the divisions within the party and quietly do the work of governing.

There will be more coming afterwards if we don't re-empower politicians to get organized and work together.

The district that is best represented is the district that is wise enough to select a man of energy, intelligence, and integrity and reelects him year after year.

It certainly makes no sense to enact more laws if we cannot, or do not, enforce the ones we have.

No one thinks she [Carolyn Maloney] can pass the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act; she passed it through the House. I mean, it's just - she's there. She knows the issues and she makes sure they get done.

What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives.

The only thing privacy laws accomplish is making the bugs smaller.