Max Baucus Quotations

What Hurricane Katrina destroyed in hours will take years to rebuild, ... The public expects the government to be careful with taxpayer dollars and put them to use in a smart and practical manner.

I am concerned about the fate of the bill. Although many of its policies are sound, I am not confident that most will survive a conference with the House.

I am supportive of working on repealing the estate tax, but now is not the appropriate time. The nation is calling out for the Senate to act to help those in need.

For the United States, Malaysia represents a major commercial player - in the same league as France, Italy, Taiwan, and the Netherlands. In the past, we have spent too much time, effort, and resources negotiating agreements with small countries of little commercial significance.

Good for you, Gov. Blanco, ... This is not about blame, this is about how we get this job done. I appreciate your response.

We must do all we can to help the relief effort, ... We are just now beginning to realize the scale of this tragedy.

It is important for House conferees to realize that it is going to be difficult for the conference to come up with a bill that does not represent the bipartisan provisions of the Senate bill,

Our bill will fully fund the rural schools program without selling even one acre of our prized public lands. Our public lands shouldn't be put up for sale to the highest bidder.

President Bush likes to say that trade is for everyone, and that we all share the benefits -- including workers .... This amendment presented the president with the perfect opportunity to show a real commitment to those priorities. But he let the opportunity pass him by.

The amendment states and reflects America's true needs by saying to millions of senior citizens who do not receive adequate coverage that we are there for you, ... That's millions of senior citizens, and we help them by taking just a small nick out of the president's tax cuts -- about $158 billion.

I would never vote for a bill which I thought would undermine traditional Medicare, and this bill does not do that,

We were given a second chance by the BRAC commission, and we pounced on it,

There is a very real sense among Americans that our trading partners - China, in particular - do not play by the rules.

We should proceed with caution. We should protect the resources we now have.

We've cleared the next to the last hurdle. I would be very surprised if the Congress didn't sign off on the this plan, but we must continue to ride herd to make sure that it does.

We've been at this point before and it's passed us. This time, it's going to be different.

We've got a choice here. It's either vote for this or try to amend it. And if we try to amend it, we're going to be back where we've been for the last five months. That is, doing a lot of talking and not much action. I regret that, but that's the situation we're faced with.

We all know the importance of getting prescription drug benefits for seniors, ... It's extremely complicated working this out. It's not easy. It's uncharted territory, but we all want to make it work. For that reason, it is going to work.

U.S. - China Economic Relations Revisited. China maintains an unjustified, WTO-inconsistent ban on U.S. beef, despite clear scientific evidence that our beef is safe.

U.S. agricultural products, including safe, high-quality Montana beef, face unscientific trade restrictions in many important markets.

a true definition of compromise -- a little give, a little take.

Privatizing Social Security will take dollars out of young folks' pockets. If this proposal moves forward, workers today will not only see their benefits drastically reduced when they are ready to retire, but they will also bear the brunt of trillions of dollars added to the national debt because of this plan.

Privatizing Social Security will take dollars out of young folks' pockets.

After reviewing Judge John Roberts' credentials and meeting with him privately, I have found that he meets my criteria for judges. And that is: only the brightest, most objective minds shall serve on the bench,

Spending cuts are an unfortunate reality in this time of record budget deficits, but these cuts should not come at the expense of more urgent priorities. Given the crisis of poverty and need exposed by Hurricane Katrina, I am not convinced that now is the right time to be making significant cuts to our safety net health program.

The whole country is trying to figure out what should be done about record high gasoline prices at a time of record oil company profits. It's relevant to know what the real financial picture is for this industry, because the financial picture for American consumers is pretty bleak.

This is absurd. This is irresponsible. I strongly urge senators to consider what they're doing here tonight in supporting this amendment because, in a word I do not use lightly, this is an outrage.

This is a big victory for drug dealers,

This package that we're announcing today is an effort to get things moving, ... It's based on several needs. One is cash -- people just need cash to be able to meet needs.

This legislation has tremendous momentum. It's going to pass. It's going to be enacted and the president is going to sign it.

It's going to pass. It just depends on when that willful band of three or four senators is going to recognize that.

Eight weeks ago yesterday, Katrina made landfall. Eight weeks ago today, the levees broke. And eight weeks later, I cannot in good conscience join in cutting health care, when Congress has left the health care needs of Katrina's victims unaddressed.

I told Dirk that I'm going to fight him every step of the way if the administration doesn't back away from this land grab. He heard my message loud and clear: our public lands aren't for sale to the highest bidder.

These people need help. They need to know Congress is doing something, too.

excellent news for Red Lodge and will be a real shot in the arm for local businesses and the economy.

I'm inclined to vote for Roberts unless something else comes up. It's a close call.

I'm glad that Thailand agrees. Now it's time for Japan to lift its ban as well,

I know that the American public is nervous about China, and there is a temptation to respond harshly to the economic challenge that China poses. But we need to resist that urge and make responsible policy.

If I were the president, I would be very concerned, ... and I would do what was reasonably necessary to find a way to get my people confirmed.

I'm traveling to the disaster area in person because I want to help out in any way I can, ... Our relief package is one more way Americans can come together to help our friends and neighbors on the Gulf Coast.

If the president would like to have his people in place, I would think he would burn the midnight oil to find a solution,

Canada's subsidized imports of softwood lumber harm the U.S. lumber industry.

Chairman Roth's done a good job of trying to bring competing plans together, ... This is the first major good news I've seen in some time.

Get a better sense of Katrina costs, then we'll be in a better position to know what to do.

I couldn't be prouder of Harold Sutton, folks in Billings and people across Montana for the way they've risen to the challenge of helping with the Katrina relief effort,

I doubt that many minds are changed by the statements but nevertheless the statements are insightful,

I commend Sgt. Bennett for his heroic service to our state and to our country,

Tax reform is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

If I were the president, I would be very concerned... and I would do what was reasonably necessary to find a way to get my people confirmed.

The Senate is a remarkable institution. It is unique. There is no other body, no other political body, no other democratic legislature in the world quite like the U.S. Senate.

The Social Security trust fund is in pretty good shape today and we should not embark upon risky, dangerous schemes which will, in fact, undermine Social Security, such as privatization.

It is pretty hard to find the right result to a controversial issue.

IRAs are intended for retirement.

I just see a huge train wreck coming down. You and I have discussed this many times, and I don't see any results yet.

U.S. agricultural products, including safe, high-quality Montana beef, face unscientific trade restrictions in many important markets.

Sequestration is leverage that should not be given up easily.

Judge Roberts has assured me personally that he has a healthy respect for precedent and the hard-won rights of Americans.

Fundamentally, legislation that is historic, that is comprehensive, that has a large number of senators supporting it is more durable.

The administration's attempt to keep us from selling agricultural products to Cuba is an outrage. Cuba is not a threat. That is why we must do more to open Cuba - not less.

I think I can speak for every Senator, saying that he or she ran for the Senate because we want to help make this a better place; that is, we want to help our States and help America.

I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

I know the problem of obesity. I got to tell you, I think that's tepid. I just don't think the bully pulpit is going to be enough to sufficiently fight obesity. We're going to have to have incentives in here.

I believe strongly that the opportunity is here for us in America to finally have a healthcare system that we can really be proud of. But it's got to be one where everybody is involved. Everybody: consumers, employers, providers, health-insurance companies, everybody.

Health reform is an essential part of restoring America's economy and maintaining our competitiveness.

Every American has a right to affordable, high-quality health care.

You're entitled to Medicaid regardless of your income. Don't worry about your health care.

The recovery of the Gulf Coast region will take years to complete.

In this ever-changing world, it's more important than ever that our top-notch military continues to receive the resources needed to serve and protect our country.

There are significant human rights abuses in China. In some areas, the situation is worse today than in the past. In other areas, there have been improvements. We will recognize the latter, and be critical of the former.

Now is not the time to open the border to receive Canadian beef down to the United States.

Tax complexity itself is a kind of tax.

Global overcapacity in steel production can no longer be ignored. Foreign governments' intervention in steel markets has had a devastating impact on the U.S. industry.

The truth is we cannot have it all. There is a deficit problem. Something will have to give.

And I think the reason is pretty clear. It's because it's embarrassing.

The future is so uncertain. And each passing year, it is more difficult to operate other bases compared to ours.