Evan Bayh Quotations

To win the war on terror, we must know who our friends are and where our enemies are hiding. We can't continue fighting terrorism using the same foreign policy blueprints that were in place before September 11th.

Across the country military families are facing dire financial circumstances due to longer than expected tours of duties. They are being penalized for their patriotism - no one should have to choose between doing right by their country and doing right by their families.

America is stronger than ever. We will forever remember those we lost on September 11, 2001. In honoring their memory, we will remain true to our commitment to freedom and democracy.

What is required from members of Congress and the public alike is a new spirit of devotion to the national welfare beyond party or self-interest.

Baseball may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience. Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials.

Mothers - especially single mothers - are heroic in their efforts to raise our nation's children, but men must also take responsibility for their children and recognize the impact they have on their families' well-being.

You now have six-year campaigns for the Senate - you never stop running. It's not uncommon for a member of the Senate to have a fundraising breakfast, a fundraising lunch and a fundraising dinner, and then when the Senate breaks for the week to go home, more fundraisers. And that's driven by the cost of campaigning.

Challenges of historic import threaten America's future. Action on the deficit, economy, energy, health care and much more is imperative, yet our legislative institutions fail to act. Congress must be reformed.

We must do all we can to help improve the deplorable human rights situation of the North Korean people.

Filibusters have proliferated because under current rules just one or two determined senators can stop the Senate from functioning. Today, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to stop a vote; senators are rarely asked to pull all-nighters like Jimmy Stewart in 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'

Of course, the genesis of a good portion of the gridlock in Congress does not reside in Congress itself. Ultimate reform will require each of us, as voters and Americans, to take a long look in the mirror, because in many ways, our representatives in Washington reflect the people who have sent them there.

My first meeting as a senator, my first day, they were already talking about the next election. Part of that's the permanent campaign, part of that's a word I've been using more frequently, 'tribal.' Our politics has become tribal: It's us versus them.

People come into public life for different reasons. None of us are ego-challenged, I think, or we probably wouldn't be doing what we're doing, so if anyone tells you that they don't like the sound of the applause and the ego gratification, I don't think they're being straight with you.

We should be proud of liberating the 26 million people in Iraq and should remember that this is why it is important to stick it out to it's successful conclusion.

If I could create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a business, that would be one more than Congress has created in the last six months.

Filibusters should require 35 senators to... make a commitment to continually debate an issue in reality, not just in theory. The number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster should be reduced to 55 from 60.

Families and businesses are tightening their belts to make ends meet - and Washington should too.

I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress.

I'm pleased to offer analysis of public policy and politics to the millions of Americans who get their news from Fox.

If one of my boys was asking me if they should go into politics, I'd say there's only one reason to go into public life and that's to help people.

As Indiana's governor, I balanced eight budgets, never raised taxes, and left the largest surplus in state history. It wasn't always easy. Cuts had to be made and some initiatives deferred. Occasionally I had to say 'no.

Our success as a party will largely be determined by how well we do here in the heartland... The time has come to be secure about our values. The time has come to lead.

We can do better than the false bravado of 'bring 'em on' remember that? We can do better than the illusion of 'mission accomplished,'

This proposal emphasizes accountability. That is something that is long overdue. The fragmented structure that my colleagues have mentioned has prevented us from having accountability,

We need to mobilize our core constituency to vote, ... especially at a time of low turnout, when each vote is more valuable.

Like all Americans regardless of party, I hope and pray that he will be a great chief justice. Time will tell,

Of course, it's a matter of courtesy. Like many of my colleagues, I'm interested in what he has to say, and we won't know that until he's asked and answers the questions.

I don't know. That's so far down the road, I couldn't say. This is a decision that I don't have to make for a year and a half. So I'm doing some of the practical things you need to do to keep that option open. But my first priority is serving the people of our state. That's what I care about, and that's why I'm here in Terre Haute today. So if that's a decision I do make - where - I guess we'll have to decide that if that time arrives.

But there are charities there, there are individuals there from which money does flow to organizations and groups that we have a lot of concern about, and we need greater cooperation in terms of cracking down on those groups,

If the intelligence ends up being wrong, we need to get to the bottom of why and also there will be more skepticism in the U.S. and the world.

he never really let it go to his head. He remembered where he came from.

We must find a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil so America is prepared for the future.

We must continue working to make flu education a priority along with vaccine production to effectively prepare ourselves against another epidemic.

I think I should hear what the man has to say before making up my mind, ... Whoever is chosen for this spot could be on our nation's highest court for 30 years perhaps, and deal with some of the most fundamental liberties that we have in this country. So I think it's important we take our time, ask the right questions, listen carefully to the answers and then reach a considered judgment.

I think the field is wide open at this point,

I said, 'I'm sorry, Mom, I've got to go to the bathroom,'

Our interest in serving our community has to be more than episodic, sparked by disaster, natural or man-made, ... The essence of our proposal was to try to institutionalize service to make it part of (young people's) experience.

Our government failed at one of the most basic functions it has -- providing for the physical safety of our citizens, and in so doing raised basic questions about who we are as a people, what makes us special, and whether our leaders understand,

Our success as a party will in large part be determined by how we do right here in the heartland of America,

Our success as a party will be determined largely by how well we do here,

On the subject of education there is some preexisting bipartisanship. If both sides are willing to not insist on their most ideological elements, I think we could get this done.

Regrettably, the readiness of the Iraqi army is wholly inadequate for the needs. Our own government has said so.

Our objective is not to oppose the president; it's to do what's right for America.

I think this is a good day for democracy in Iraq and am proud of the American soldiers without whom this would not have been possible, but it's not the end of the process. We have a long and difficult road ahead of us and I think we're going to need the kind of leaders that understand the complexities in Iraq to be successful.

Many Americans wonder if we're willing to use force to defend the country even under the most compelling of circumstances, ... The majority of Democrats would answer that question that, yes, there is a right place and a right time. We don't get to have that discussion because many people don't think we have the backbone.

We've tried the embargo and that doesn't seem to work, ... That really has punished U.S. workers and producers by cutting off our markets and allowing them to be filled by the Canadians, the Europeans and others.

The amount of U.S. debt held by countries such as China and Japan is at a historic high, with foreign investors holding half of America's publicly held debt. This dependence raises the specter that other nations will be able to influence our policies in ways antithetical to American interests.

You know, if we can take this spirit today, and spread it across Indiana, just like the response to Katrina and 9-11, we can make this state a better place and that's what it's all about.

will take leadership -- leadership unlike that which has controlled Washington for these last several years.

We have to learn from these mistakes so that we do better to minimize the number of casualties to win this thing, ... It's the lack of any introspection that I find to be very troubling.

This should have been on par with meeting the challenge of Sputnik or putting a man on the moon,

We will need to stay the course, and not just remove the yoke of Saddam Hussein, but ensure that that yoke is not replaced by another.

We've got a few voices out there who would be a little bit more on the fringe, ... Unfortunately, too often they define the entire party.

To strike the right balance between protecting Hoosiers' health and maintaining a strong economy, ... we need to take the time to get the rule right.

What we are seeing in New Orleans is the result of a series of misjudgments and misdirected priorities, that have all produced an increasingly tragic result.

believes that he made the right decision based on the facts as they were known at the time.

Are we willing to accept an approximation of who the voters actually wanted, or are we going to insist that every reasonable step to determine who the voters actually wanted be taken? ... I clearly think it needs to be the latter. That's the very foundation upon which our democracy is based.

Even if he's not indicted, if it appears that a top adviser to the president of the United States was trying to harm someone personally for having a different public policy point of view, that's unacceptable behavior in the White House.

You wouldn't run for the United States Senate or for governor or for anything else without answering people's questions about what you believe. And I think the Supreme Court is no different.

You may see some fine-tuning of the president's program to make it more effective, to actually get more bang for the buck. But I think you'll see broad bipartisan support for targeting tax cuts and investment incentives and aid to the states and unemployed, to kind of provide us an insurance policy to get job creation moving.

They fired missiles over Japan. What is the likelihood that they currently have a missile capable of hitting the West Coast of the United States?

There seems to be a level of -- for lack of a better word -- denial about how permeated some aspects of the society are with sympathizers for radical causes,

It's a regrettable situation, but what are we supposed to do?

It's not right to force the men and women in the Guard and Reserves to choose between love of country and love for their family, ... When our troops are out defending our country, they shouldn't have to worry about who is protecting their homes. My legislation will eliminate the Patriot Penalty and protect our military families from eviction when a loved one is serving overseas. Our Guard and Reserve families make countless sacrifices when a loved one is deployed- financial hardship because of their service should not be one of them.

It shouldn't take a natural disaster to remind us of the importance of service. It's something that we need to incorporate in our daily lives, as a part of our priorities of how we should live our lives.

The nominee was not well-served by a process designed to maintain ambiguity rather than resolve it. Voting to confirm a nominee to the Supreme Court must be more than an act of faith.

No longer will we see an agenda tilted to the far right. It will require people to hammer out a true consensus and compromise, and I think that will be good for America.

They'll ultimately have to get it from us, ... Following the election of a permanent government, perhaps the international community would be willing to take this on.

I'm doing some of the practical things you need to do to keep that option open.

If you look back over the last 20 years, the Fortune 500 companies in this country have created zero net new jobs. But at the same time, smaller businesses have created tens of millions of jobs. So if we care about growing our economy, as I believe we must, we really need to look at the challenges facing small business.

If you want to be a majority party, you have to appeal to a coalition, and that means appealing to independents and moderates. That's why you'll hear Lieberman and Gore emphasizing issues that appeal to both the base and the center.

But Truman saved the day. He said, 'It's OK, son, so do I,' ... My claim to fame - I went to the bathroom with Harry Truman.

In recent years, we have seen technology advance at lightning speed, allowing us to accomplish lifesaving feats never imagined before. It is our responsibility to ensure that these advances are used for positive medical breakthroughs, and not allowed to restrict rights or limit access to health insurance or job opportunities.

The amount of U.S. debt held by countries such as China and Japan is at a historic high, with foreign investors holding half of America's publicly held debt. This dependence raises the specter that other nations will be able to influence our policies in ways antithetical to American interests.

If he focuses only on low-income people, then there are a lot of middle class folks struggling to pay their prescription benefit.

I cannot vote to confirm, not because I oppose John Roberts, but because we simply do not know enough about his views on critical issues to make a considered judgment,

The IMF, by its own rules should be investigating this problem, and my resolution will help make that happen,

All we can do is assume, because when presented with the opportunity to disavow the positions in his memos, Roberts refused,