Arlen Specter Quotes

I have not taken a position on that nuclear option. My view is I'm not going to do anything until I come to that bridge. I'm not going to jump off the bridge until I come to it.

I've been in a lot of elections.

I think if you can get people to laugh, you can get people to listen.

Pennsylvania is a very tough state; people don't last long in Pennsylvania politics.

There are conspiracies all over the Senate floor on any day!

I've been playing squash almost daily for 38 years.

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

I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider. The decider is a shared and joint responsibility.

Separation of power says the judiciary committee is supposed to confirm qualified judges and then what the Supreme Court does, that is their function, not my function.

It so happens that I'm pro choice.

But one way or another, judges perform a very vital function in our society. They have a risky job and they are entitled to security.

I'm ordinarily pretty correct in what I say.

I've made a career of being precise.

There's nothing in the First Amendment that even remotely talks about spending money for political contests, and to say that an individual can spend as much of his or her own money as he or she wants constitutionally without any limitation, I think is just absurd.

We're all looking for a plan that will work. The current plan is not working, and 21,500 additional troops
it's a snowball in July. It's not going to work.

The fundamental purpose of government is to protect its citizens.

There is no doubt that our nation's security and defeating terrorism trump all other priorities.

Well, I believe that when you are confirming a United States Supreme Court Justice, that it really isn't Democratic or Republican; it's American.

The best way to reduce the cost of medical care is to reduce the illness.

Resolutions are flying like snowflakes around here.

My change in party will enable me to be re-elected.

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.

American credibility in the war on terrorism depends on a strong stand against all terrorist acts, whether committed by foe or friend.

I've never walked out of a room and had a disagreement as to what was said.

Lawyers advocate more so than state their own positions.

Cannibals are devouring senators.

If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine.

As I think through the issue of funding the rebuilding of Iraq, I think about the analogy of a bankruptcy proceeding. There is no doubt that Iraq as a country is bankrupt.

My definition of winning at squash is playing and surviving, and I've never lost a match.

I really do not make deals.

If enough people would come out the right wing, the extremists couldn't dominate.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision rejected Congress' findings and its method of reasoning, .. Is there any real justification for the court's denigrating Congress' 'method of reasoning'?.

I am very much opposed to abortion personally. But I don't think it is the government's rule.

In our social contract, we have provisions that see to it that you take care of people who need some help.

I just was not going to subject my record to the bleak prospects of a primary election.

Heart disease continues to be the number one killer; cancer, the number 2 killer, not far behind. The tragic aspect of these deadly diseases is that they could all be cured, I do believe, if we had sufficient funding.

The First Amendment freedom of religion is as important today as when the Bill of Rights was first written.

It has been my experience that the hearings are really, in effect, a subtle minuet, with the nominee answering as many questions as he thinks necessary in order to be confirmed.

Effective security measures do not come cheap.

We don't need holy wars. What we need is tolerance and brotherhood and simple humanity.

Neither this nation nor this party can afford a candidate so captive to the demands of the intolerant right that we end up re-electing a president of the incompetent left.

When the 14th Amendment, equal protection clause was enacted, the galleries in the Senate were segregated. Now we have integration.

Do you believe today that the right to privacy does exist in the Constitution?

My father was an immigrant who literally walked across Europe to get out of Russia. He fought in World War I. He was wounded in action. My father was a great success even though he never had money. He was a very determined man, a great role model.

I do not represent the Republican Party.

Fundraising is very, very time-consuming.

When the students are occupied, they're not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.

We are not utilizing the Iraqi oil for U.S. purposes. We are not asking that the Iraqi oil be used to pay our military expenses. We are asking only that the Iraqi oil be used to rebuild Iraq - that is, to rebuild Iraq for the Iraqi people.

It's been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania.

Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy's statement that sometimes party asks too much.

There's nothing more important than our good health - that's our principal capital asset.

Stability means respecting precedents.

I ran for president in 1996.

People in government and public life are being kicked around at a high rate of speed.

It's inspirational to see someone who is dying smile.

You know, a statesman is a dead politician.

'Never give in' was my mindset.

When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party.

Americans' addiction to sports, with the NFL at the top, is based on the excitement generated by the potential for the unexpected great play which can only happen with honest competition from great athletes.

I'm battling cancer. It's another battle I intend to win.

Was the Vietnam conflict a war which should have, as a matter of constitutional law, required a declaration of war by Congress?

As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party.

My mother, Lillie Specter, was an angel and totally uninterested in politics.

If Romney wants to make me responsible for ObamaCare, I've said I would be proud to be responsible for it.

The solicitor general is sometimes referred to as the 10th Supreme Court justice - a pretty important position.

The essence of a democracy is a free electorate.