Quote/Unquote
February 28"I fear and there's a lot of people in this country who fear that they may be bombed by the federal government at another Waco."
February 27
"If you look at their amendments, every one of them . . . would be a loophole through which you could drive trucks of deficit spending."
--Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, when asked yesterday if he would compromise with Democrats on the balanced budget amendment.
February 26
"I couldn't help thinking, you know, the hero works for the U.S. Geological [Survey], and his life is saved in the end by a contraption developed not here at home for uses on the ground, but by NASA for use in space. And I thought, the government is not the enemy."
--President Clinton on the movie "Dante's Peak," in an appearance before the American Council on Education.
February 25
"Gore. He's into this kind of stuff. He's the high-tech guy."
--White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry, when asked who in the White House would be most likely to clone himself.
February 24
"I would think Riddick would like to serve his country, but in some other capacity. Maybe now he can run for Congress or something."
--Rock Newman, manager for former heavyweight boxing champ Riddick Bowe, on Bowe's decision to leave the Marine Corps Reserves after only three days of training.
February 21
"As we enter a new century, we can ill afford the freeloaders of democracy -- the selfish, self-absorbed political wolves who are content to carp, complain, criticize and destroy without offering any constructive help or ideas."
--Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, in a speech announcing he would not seek a fifth term in the Senate.
February 20
"We had a huge class of know-nothings who came in last time. I hope this class is a little more intelligent."
--Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., on freshmen Members of Congress.
February 19
"If you want to do business with the federal government, you had better maintain a safe workplace and respect civil, human and union rights."
--Vice President Gore at an AFL-CIO meeting.
February 18
"It's refreshing to find a movie in which federal bureaucrats are not portrayed as heartless or incompetent cads."
--Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales on the NBC miniseries "Asteroid."
February 14
"I cannot guarantee you that she's personally going to sit at home every night and answer every e-mail message."
--State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns on Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's new e-mail address, secretary@state.gov.
February 13
"We all must show a new willingness to reexamine pet projects with an ear towards objective, credible information about the results of these programs."
--House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, on Congress' oversight role under the Government Performance and Results Act.
February 12
"With this plan we can change the future of the government. We will set a new standard of customer service that has never been reached in history."
--Acting GSA Administrator David Barram, announcing the Clinton Administration's Access America plan to push agencies to provide more services electronically.
February 11
"Although for 20 years everyone has talked about downsizing government, it didn't really happen before as far as space."
--Robert Peck, commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, on a budget shortfall caused partly by reduced demand for federal office space.
February 10
"Diplomatically, we are steadily and unilaterally disarming ourselves."
--Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in a speech last week in which she noted the United States has closed more than 30 overseas posts in the past four years.
February 7
"We're going to fight like the devil on this one."
--Rep. Thomas M. Davis, R-Va., on the Clinton Adminstration's pay and benefits proposals
February 6
"The era of big government may be over, but the era of big spending isn't over."
--House Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Livingston, R-La., on President Clinton's fiscal 1998 budget
February 5
"We should blow it up."
--Former Vice Presidential candidate Jack Kemp on the IRS, according to The Oregonian, a Portland newspaper
February 4
"We are totally committed to a balanced budget and equally committed to opposing a balanced budget amendment."
--Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin
February 3
"Downsizing we've done. We don't need to worry about getting the numbers down."
--An unnamed Clinton Administration official quoted in The Washington Post.
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