Evan Bayh Quotes
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Americans have always prized individuality - it is part of our national DNA - but America is a community that draws strength from the sum of our people and has always known that the total of that sum is worth far more than its individual parts.
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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.
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While romanticizing the Senate of yore would be a mistake, it was certainly better in my father's time.
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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.
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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.
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I've had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is much too much partisanship and not enough progress.
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The most important area for spending restraint is entitlement reform.
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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.'
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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.
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As with any difficult challenge that the public and policymakers face, there is no single solution or silver bullet that will serve as the answer to how the United States works to reduce carbon emissions.
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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.
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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.
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Many good people serve in Congress. They are patriotic, hard-working, and devoted to the public good as they see it, but the institutional and cultural impediments to change frustrate the intentions of these well-meaning people as rarely before.
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The only way Democrats can govern in this country is by making common cause with moderates and independents.
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As Democrats, we have a patriotic duty and political imperative to lay out our ideas for protecting America.
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China's island-building in the South China Sea poses a threat to U.S. national security interests in the region.
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We know that a college degree is rapidly becoming the price of admission to the global economy.
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My father, Birch Bayh, represented Indiana in the Senate from 1963 to 1981. A progressive, he nonetheless enjoyed many friendships with moderate Republicans and Southern Democrats.
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If you are the executive, you're probably going to have more of an impact than if you're one of a hundred members of the Senate, certainly one of 435 members of the House.
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What matters is moving forward and focusing on practical results for the American people.
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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.
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It shouldn't take a constitutional crisis or an attack on the nation to create honest dialogue in the Senate.
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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.
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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.