Quotes by Arlen Specter

“I know that the president will listen to what Senator Frist has to say. Im not saying hes going to agree with it. But what Senator Frist has had to say is weighty, and I think may bring us all together on this issue.”

“If you are going to have to play defense all the time, you cannot have the kind of ingenuity, assertiveness, independence, and intelligence which is what has made our country strong.”

“When the students are occupied, theyre not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.”

“Voting is fundamental in our democracy. It has yielded enormous returns.”

“White-collar crime convictions are deterrents, Ive seen a lot of that. Imprisoning heads of state is a deterrent, too. It doesnt happen very often.”

“When we take a look at the budget for the National Institutes of Health at $28 billion, it is, candidly, scandalous that with our resources, our resource capability, research capability in biomedical science, that people are still dying of breast cancer or colon cancer or heart disease.”

“The essence of a democracy is a free electorate.”

“As a matter of traditional and sound constitutional doctrine, an amendment to the Constitution should be the last resort when all other measures have proved inadequate.”

“I must say I am not pleased to have to arrange the Senate schedule around the availability of Senators who are running for President.”

“It is my hope that we will spend more time talking about the substantive needs of schoolchildren than the issue of attaching political blame.”

“It is imperative that the White House provide expeditiously those documents it intends to release,”

“Unfortunately, the debate over that advertisement has become a distraction from the serious discussion we hoped to have with the American public,”

“a window of opportunity at this time to resolve the disagreement on drug-interdiction policies.”

“I am concerned about the Supreme Courts judicial activism which has usurped congressional authority,”

“These decisions pose two major problems, ... A lack of stability or predictability in the law because the two cases, decided three years apart, are virtually indistinguishable; and, two, the courts judicial activism in functioning as a super legislature.”

“Isnt there a lack of respect for Congress demonstrated by the Supreme Court, as Justice Scalia points out that it is ill advised for the court to set itself up as taskmaster to determine that Congress has done its homework?”

“What is happening is escalating, and then there is escalating beyond that. I go back to 1987, when the Democrats won control of the Senate, President Reagans last two years, and it was tough, but not nearly as tough as it became later.”

“fifteen more thinking it over.”

“a little political cover.”

“Two women, I think, are a minimum.”