Legislative Progress Quotes

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

We have promised to do better, and no Republican concern should ever be enough to filibuster our own bill.

Believe it or not, one of the things I try to do around here is try to look for opportunities to work with people across the aisle. I know that's not the common narrative. But the truth is if you want to get anything done, that's an absolute requirement.

We want to move forward in a bipartisan fashion to solve our problems.

Nothing gets done (in Congress) unless it's bipartisan. And the reason that matters is that it's a function of reality.

Having an understanding of what's possible also makes me redouble my efforts to fight those who stand in the way of doing the things that my constituents and the country would want to get done.

I've had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is much too much partisanship and not enough progress.

The reason we're governing right now is because we defeated moderate Republicans with moderate Democrats. And people need to be patient about that and realize that compromise is not evil.

We need Congress to do more than just engage in partisan games.

I may sound naive, since everyone's decided the next two years are going to be all about 2016, but I look at what's happened over the years when there's been divided government. That's when we've done tax reform, that's when we've done entitlement reform - to move this economy forward on these big issues.

There are many miles to go before we get this done ... But I have a feeling that ... we're going to have a big bipartisan vote for this in the end. My sense is that people are more optimistic than they've been in 20 years about addressing this problem.

The big legislative updates that we need to compete in the 21st century and to raise living standards have been blocked by a reluctance to seek common ground.

Republicans who oppose Obamacare have a responsibility to show that they can do better - not return us to the days when insurance companies alone decided who to cover for what benefits at what price. Otherwise, they should move beyond the repeal fights of the past, accept Obamacare as the law of the land, and work with us to make real improvements.

Now, look, it's true, Americans do want leaders that will come to Washington, D.C. and work together to get things done, but that comes with a very important caveat, it depends what they're trying to do.

Laws never would be improved, if there were not numerous persons whose moral sentiments are better than the existing laws.

When I worked in the White House for President Carter, we tried to do comprehensive tax reform and we made some progress, and other presidents have as well.

The conservative Republican governors tend to be more oriented toward trying to work with Democrats and getting things done.

I'm always looking for people on the other side of the aisle for any initiative I'm sponsoring - men and women - to move things forward.

I am now more sure than ever that we're going to have a bipartisan bill ... making incredible progress.

We need to make sure that the laws we're passing are protecting people. And we should not be voting against something that makes progress just because it doesn't make as much progress as we'd like to see made. As much as I might like to see any number of issues progress in larger steps, I understand that some of these things happen in smaller steps. And so for that reason, progress is progress. And success is success.

I'm a firm believer that if you put together a good product that is just good policy, that is embraced by both sides so that it is seen as politically advantageous to the Republicans or Democrats, that even in this very polarized partisan world that you can advance legislation. I have to believe that, or I wouldn't want to get up every morning.

There is too much blind partisanship in Congress, which has blocked progress on critical issues. Too many members view compromise as weakness rather than the essence of our democracy. This has to end.

Veterans are one area where Republicans and Democrats have made progress together.

Members of Congress who want to get things done, they need partners who want to move the ball forward on big issues like fundamental tax reform, on regulatory reform, on putting together a replacement package for Obamacare.

I think on this issue more than any other we're going to see sort of a bipartisan longing to get something done, and hopefully you're not going to find the fisticuffs that you would find on lots of other issues. I think you'll be able to glean a sense of progress without us revealing the specifics.