Legislative Success Quotes

Washington isn't utterly dysfunctional.

The ability of Texas Republicans to be effective in Congress is based on having at least 218 Republicans in the House.

The only way to get anywhere in Congress is to stay there and let seniority take its course.

The importance of building relationships among colleagues, of trying to create coalitions behind the issues that you are championing, was not something I ever had much insight into until I was elected and started serving in the Senate.

There's no question that Kennedy was an utter failure as a passer of laws during his proverbial thousand days.

The Barack who was so successful in Illinois in a Republican-controlled legislative situation for most of his time and who was a very outspoken progressive voice, that's not the man who we ended up having as president.

A good day for Barack Obama is anytime the dominant topic of discussion is anything but the economy.

To be effective in Congress, you must focus. With so many issues and debates occurring at any given time, it is easy to spread yourself too thin and lose sight of your goal.

Since joining the U.S. House of Representatives in November of 2006, I have strongly supported Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I have the utmost respect for her, and I believe the Democrats were able to accomplish a great deal under her leadership.

If we win, we'll make history, and I'll serve you on the Agriculture Committee.

I was involved in legislating dozens of laws, perhaps hundreds. But my glory didn't lie in legislative work, if there is any glory in it. The Israeli law books are full of laws that aren't enforced anyway.

If I don't get along with Democrats, I'm sort of, like, out of business.

Whenever Congress undertakes large-scale reform, there are times when disaster appears certain - only to be averted at the last minute by the good sense of its sometimes unfairly maligned members.

As much as the Congress is criticized - and a lot of it is well deserved - the fact is there are many quiet victories if you keep your head down and know how to maneuver in the process and get things done.

Congress must not meet without a victory to announce to them.

My polls have been up and down a lot. If I were interested in polling, I would not have run for President. I was polling at over 70 percent when I was in the U. S. Senate. I took this job to deliver for the American people.

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.

There is nothing that I didn't get to do while I was serving in Congress - except be in the majority.

What will most certainly happen is that there will be very clear and full communication between the government and independents and minor parties. The precise mechanisms will evolve over time, but we certainly intend to keep the minor parties and the independents very much in the loop. We have to if we want our legislative agenda to have a reasonable chance of success and that's what we intend to do.

As a former minority leader who became the first Republican Speaker of the House in Florida since Reconstruction, I know that leadership is not an easy task.

I read all these stories that I don't know anything about politics. But I must know something. I've had some good victories in Congress, and I've survived this town for four years.

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

Rather than depriving Trump of political victories, Democrats ought to focus on delivering victories for the American people.

The 112th Congress passed only 220 laws, the lowest number enacted by any Congress. In 1948, when President Truman called the 80th Congress a 'Do-Nothing' Congress, it had passed more than 900 laws.

I think Newt Gingrich has a proven track record of changing Washington and getting results.