Quote/Unquote
November 26"Most of the things we tell them are actually very simple, but they are important and sometimes forgotten."
November 25
"I'm proud to report through the annual appropriations process, Republicans have successfully reversed a ten-year uninterrupted trend of increases in domestic spending."
--House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La.
November 24
"I may have to introduce legislation to rename the agency the 'U.S. Lip Service.' "
--Sen. Frank H. Murkowski, R-Alaska, accusing Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman of failing to follow through on his promise to be "directly responsible for the Forest Service."
November 20
"We hope initiatives like the Partnership for Trust in Government will speed the day when young people's heroes will be the scientists, engineers, police officers, teachers and other dedicated people who work in American government."
--Patricia McGinnis, president of the Council for Excellence in Government.
November 18
"Oh, absolutely. What else would you do other than be OMB director?"
--OMB Director Franklin Raines, on whether he will stay in his current position.
November 17
"There is simply no way to fire a magic bullet and achieve the results that we are seeking."
--New IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti on fixing the agency.
November 14
"We've handed government departments the tools to clamp down on people who owe them money, yet they continue to let the debt pile up."
--Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on a report showing agencies have failed to collect $50 billion in delinquent debts.
November 13
"You get the sense in talking to management in the bureau that they've just been holding on for a long time. There's no thought that they have the ability to make things better, and they're just trying to keep them from getting any worse."
--Kevin Gover, the new head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
November 12
"This is our chance to show what we can do and to tell our own story."
--Ellen Murphy, IRS assistant director in Dallas, on the agency's new "problem-solving days."
November 11
"We need to have this revolution in business affairs if we're going to cut the fat out and really apply our resources to building more and more muscle."
--Defense Secretary William Cohen
November 10
"I don't believe 'jointness' means simply spreading cuts equally among the three services."
--Brig. Gen. Charles F. Wald, special assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff.
November 7
"Well, the feeling's mutual."
--A laughing Vice President Al Gore, when told that Republican members of Congress had given most agencies failing grades for their efforts to develop strategic plans.
November 6
"It's about getting rid of things that quite frankly are clogging up the works here in America."
--House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, on the purpose of the Government Performance and Results Act.
November 5
"He's probably walking around heaven lobbying God on behalf of federal workers."
--Fredna S. White, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1822, at AFGE President John Sturdivant's funeral.
November 4
"It's real, and it's optimistic. But it's not Pollyanna-ish."
--An Office of National Drug Control Policy spokesman, on why a Clinton administration plan to fight drug use is more feasible than a competing plan from House Republicans, which calls for a virtually drug-free America by 2001.
November 3
"It would not be hard. I mean, they're not the brightest people in the world."
--Accused spy and Pentagon attorney Theresa Squillacote, talking to an undercover FBI agent prior to her arrest about her chances of landing a job at the Office of Management and Budget.
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