Quote/Unquote

Quote/Unquote

January 30
"We want to take the last-minute deadline away so that we will not make decisions in haste that may be bad decisions. And by all of our standards, shutting down government is a bad decision."
--Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, on the proposed Government Shutdown Prevention Act

January 29
"We keep talking about holding hands and jumping off together. But we're still saying, 'You first.' "
--Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., on budget negotiations with the White House

January 28
"I've never been Secretary of State. I have been a woman for nearly 60 years. So I am now going to see how you put the two together."
--Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, at a meeting with employees

January 27
"If we have to cut the [defense] budget substantially beyond where it is today, we have to cut force structure, and therefore we can no longer honestly project ourselves as a global power."
--Former Defense Secretary William Perry

January 24
"There is a place for politics in public life. But there is no place for politics in the Commerce Department."
--Commerce Secretary William Daley, in an announcement at his confirmation hearing that he would cut 100 of the department's 260 political jobs.

January 23
"I am distressed when I see government workers described . . . as 'non-essential employees.' All government workers are essential; if they are not, they should not be working for the federal government."
--Office of Personnel Management Director James B. King

January 22
"Even if the government had ideas, which it doesn't, it doesn't have the resources."
--Commentator George Will, on ABC's This Week.

January 21
"Today we can declare government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. We, the American people, are the solution."
--President Clinton, in his second inaugural address.

January 16
"Washington is like a dead mackerel on the beach. It shines and it stinks."
--Outgoing assistant secretary of Labor Joe Dear.

The Quote/Unquote Archive