What we need to do is to come together as a people and solve the problems facing our country. And unfortunately, Washington is just not doing enough of that these days. – Evan Bayh
My father was on the Judiciary Committee all 18 years. He had a good personal relationship with Jim Eastland. They probably didn’t agree on practically anything, or very little, from a public policy standpoint. But they were willing to work through that to see what they could get done just because they knew each other and liked each other. – Evan Bayh
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.’ – Evan Bayh
I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress. – Evan Bayh
Ultimately, the American people ourselves need to decide we care more about practical solutions and progress than we do about brain-dead ideology and political wrangling. – Evan Bayh
We should be proud of liberating the 26 million people in Iraq and should remember that this is why it is important to stick it out to it’s successful conclusion. – Evan Bayh
I’ve had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is much too much partisanship and not enough progress. – Evan Bayh
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. – Evan Bayh
I’ve always cared about education, and I worked with Senator Schumer on making several thousand dollars of college tuition tax deductible. That will help a lot of your middle class families make college more affordable. – Evan Bayh
The United States must not allow North Korea to exacerbate tensions between our key strategic allies in Asia. As the leader of the free world, the United States needs to support our regional allies who are standing up to a Stalinist regime that is intent on developing nuclear weapons. – Evan Bayh
Of course, the genesis of a good portion of the gridlock in Congress does not reside in Congress itself. Ultimate reform will require each of us, as voters and Americans, to take a long look in the mirror, because in many ways, our representatives in Washington reflect the people who have sent them there. – Evan Bayh
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. – Evan Bayh
Baseball may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience. Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials. – Evan Bayh
Sometimes, it takes leaving to gain some perspective. I see that clearly every time I leave Washington, D.C., and return to Indiana. I see the bizarre bubble that seems to enclose the Beltway and makes people forget what regular people care about. – Evan Bayh
As Democrats, we have a patriotic duty and political imperative to lay out our ideas for protecting America. – Evan Bayh
In Indiana, we don’t have an official state religion, but if we did, it would be basketball. – Evan Bayh
The United States depends on South Korea and Japan to help promote American values in East Asia. – Evan Bayh
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. – Evan Bayh
Our success as a party will largely be determined by how well we do here in the heartland… The time has come to be secure about our values. The time has come to lead. – Evan Bayh
China’s island-building in the South China Sea poses a threat to U.S. national security interests in the region. – Evan Bayh
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. – Evan Bayh
My mother wrote a book. Unfortunately, it ended up being published posthumously. But I’m glad she did, because it taught me a lot about my family that, otherwise, I probably wouldn’t know. – Evan Bayh
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. – Evan Bayh
Those who obstruct the Senate should pay a price in public notoriety and physical exhaustion. That would lead to a significant decline in frivolous filibusters. – Evan Bayh
