John Breaux Quotations

We've been hollering about funding for years, but everyone would say: There goes Louisiana again, asking for more money. We've had some powerful people in powerful places, but we never got what we needed.

We've seen this many, many, many times, ... I mean, it's getting to be a punishment for this whole country and for those of us who have to sit there as well.

She's a person with a lot of experience. She's obviously affected tremendously by the emotional impact of the devastation. I think she's doing everything humanly possible to bring it together.

None of us on the commission are running again.

Must be in a closet somewhere, on a shelf somewhere. I am really disappointed.

My home was 25 miles from the gulf, and I did not want to see it become a shorefront property.

I would put myself and all of those who have served in Congress in the same boat if you will, as to things that could have been done better,

If we don't get together we are heading for a major train wreck, which I think would be terrible for the American people, ... Face the Nation.

If they pass a bill close to what we support as a centrist group that obviously makes it more do-able over here (in the Senate), ... If they pass a 'Republican-only' bill, then nothing happens.

Certainly something that can get passed early on is important, ... I think it's a mistake to come out with the most controversial proposal first.

But we made a decision based on the fact that we have been up there a long time and that we feel that the seniority is important to the people of Louisiana.

But, at the same time, I think that there is room for economic stimulus in terms of accelerated depreciation to encourage businesses to invest and to grow and ultimately to hire more people again.

If people in California want to pay extra taxes to have their trash picked up, people in Texas shouldn't have to subsidize it.

If it was up for a vote in its current form, I would vote against it,

He has to give the speech of a lifetime. It's not just the most important speech for Al Gore, it's probably one of the most important speeches in the history of our country because what he says tonight is going to set the tone probably for the next four years. It's easy to give a victory speech, but it really tests ones character to give a concession speech.

He'll tell it like it is. If he thinks something is not right, he'll holler about it. I'd be hollering at everybody, too.

He lied to Sidney Blumenthal, but he did not instruct Sidney Blumenthal to go out and tell everybody in America about it,

I think the people are saying to all of us ... enough, enough, enough,

I think both sides made a mistake from the very beginning on the issue of how to handle a $1 trillion surplus because both sides in effect said 'my way or no way,' and what we're going to end up with no way.

I think anything that is perceived as parliamentary maneuvering to get out of this is not going to be accepted by the American public, ... It's going to have to be out front. It's going to have to be fair.

I was hoping this could get 60 votes to send a good signal to the American public,

We don't suggest that because San Francisco lies on top of an earthquake fault that it should be moved.

We don't suggest that because San Francisco citizens live on top of an earthquake fault that they should be moved, ... The question of whether New Orleans should be rebuilt, one of the great cities of this country, is not really a question in my mind.

where do you get the money to pay for it?

When people see the budget, they're going to say, 'Oh, my God, I wanted a tax cut, but I didn't know what you were going to do to health care and to Medicare and national defense,'

The question will be, 'Do we need witnesses to provide additional information or do we, in essence, (already) have enough information.

You have a unique opportunity here for the first time to rebuild an American city, ... That means not just the buildings have to be rebuilt, but you have to address the problems of race and poverty and culture ... .

We do not have to have a trial. The Constitution says that the Senate shall be the sole trier of an impeachment resolution. It gives us the power to do it, but it doesn't demand that we have to,

To suggest that these African-American leaders would somehow shortchange their own citizens is absolutely without merit,

Blaming each other does not save a life, does not feed a single family or compensate them in their loss.

As I have said all along, we must rely on Florida's highest court to interpret Florida state laws governing its elections, ... With the Florida Supreme Court justices' decision now in hand, I hope a recount will be concluded in time to meet the federal deadline to select electors.

There's plenty of lore, but none of it you can publish in a family newspaper.

Is it a perfect agreement? Of course not. But does it help people who need the help the most at the bottom end of the economic ladder? I think it does. Does it also help people at the top end who pay the greatest amount of taxes? The answer is also yes.

It was acceptable because we never had problems with that arrangement. After September 11 everything has dramatically changed.

San Francisco sits on an earthquake fault, ... So do you say: Move 'em all out of there?

advance the cause of government in a democracy that is almost evenly divided between the two parties.

The most important speech of this election is ... going to be given by the loser when they concede because it will set the tone for the next four years,

Any that is why I think any kind of a stimulus package is going to have to help people who are without work, without a job, help them have health insurance.

a sense of what's happening in Congress and what's not happening.

This is a problem. This is a very difficult population to get to.

Amazing, ... It means we've got a long way to go before we can even talk about changing the system.

a balanced piece of legislation that is truly reform.

It means, ... that the fear factor is gone.

I told them it would be a serious mistake to get a 51-50 vote on this, ... It will affect a lot of things around here, make it harder to get anything done. If they want to change the culture in Washington, that's not the way to do it.

It's not over until it's over, but it's almost,

doesn't have anything to do with regard to the president

Consumers should not fear being defrauded by a dishonest funeral provider who sells them more than they need, or who does not provide itemized prices to comparison shop.

That's a bird with no left wing and no right wing right now.

It's clear that their proposal is going to be vetoed and we end up with nothing, ... The American people don't want us to do nothing but they would like us to do something that's reasonable and I suggest about a $500 billion tax cut over 10 years.

I've had feelers put out to me by low-level people in the Bush organization, mostly campaign-type people, asking if I would be interested in serving.

She'll know how to operate really well in the U.S. Senate. She comes in as a freshman, but she's not really a freshman,

Their trading relations with us are very, very important, and I think that the United States wants to trade with people they can cooperate with or we can depend on, ... They should be mindful of that as these negotiations continue.

In the passion of the moment of a national disaster of the magnitude that we have seen, this is not the time or the forum to be engaged in the blame game,

How can we do it one way and not the other?

I am pleased to see that information campaigns, such as the America's WETLAND effort, are getting the message out, and people are beginning to realize that wetlands loss in Louisiana affects us all.

I think the first order of business after the vote on the articles of impeachment is censure.

I put myself and all the members of Congress in the same boat of things that could have been done better.

Our struggle is to identify the sources of revenue and the means to obtain the funds.Without funds, all the planning and research studies can't help us.

I object to you using words like squander and pork. What is pork in one part of the country is an essential project in another part.

Yes, we have got to quit worrying about fighting each other and trying to figure out a way to work together.

There is nothing wrong where we reach a point where maybe everybody could claim a victory. I think it would be good for the American people, which should be our first priority.

I am going to work with Tom Daschle. And I'll work with the Republican leaders and the president to try and come up with something that we can all be proud of.

I needed to explain that Louisiana's coast accepts the drainage from two-thirds of the United States and, while the necessary levees constructed upstream have prevented floods, they have also contributed to problems downstream.

And the issues I think are important in Louisiana right now happen to be health care and education. And those are two areas that the federal government can play a very important role. And I think I can be effective in trying to help our state from the Washington scene.

Congress should not be like the Super Bowl where you have to have one team that's going to win and another team that's going to be a loser.

It's proper and appropriate to remind the Chinese about what they get out of solid relations with the United States.

When you have a Senate that is 50 Democrats and 49 Republicans and one independent, it's quite obvious that the only way we are going to get something done is if we work together.

Well, Judy, I would hope in the new year, we could start thinking about politics not like it was the Super Bowl, where you always have to have one team that wins and the other team has to be a loser.

You can't have a law that says you have to have all votes in at 5 o'clock tomorrow afternoon and then another law that allows you to have a hand recount that obviously is going to take more than just 5 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. They're in conflict, so a court I think has to resolve that conflict.

You can't sort of split the baby by saying, well, he's guilty but we're not going to convict him. It would be unconstitutional to have a findings of fact that suggests the president is guilty but we're not going to convict him, and do it not by a two-thirds majority but by a simple majority.

This has not been an easy job. So how do we pay for it? We made some tough recommendations.

Airlines were interested in the bottom line. They want to hire the people to do the security who could do it as cheap as possible. And that's why they gave it to the low bidder, ... It was acceptable because we never had problems with that arrangement. After September 11th everything has dramatically changed.

a great American tradition of burying the hatchet after an election -- and not burying it in each other, but rather burying it for the sake of the future of this country.

The commonality in this was people who were poor,