Trent Lott
Topics
Trent Lott
Quotations
Trent Lott is a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. He is the former Senate Majority Leader.
On Strom Thurmond:
On why he does not want to review more evidence during congressional hearings regarding the Abu Ghraib prison scandal:
On Ronald Reagan:
On solar energy in a speech to the Independent Petroleum Association of America:
On Harriet Miers as Supreme Court Justice:
"I want the President to look across the country and find the best man woman or minority that he can find"
On security versus liberty:
On Sunnis and Shia:
On whether to hold a "vote of no confidence" in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:
On filibustering:
Sourced
On the closure of the Senate to discuss intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq, on November 1, 2005:- "This is not the way it has been done. We would never surprise each other ... It's not to say that there's not important information that we could discuss or would be discussed in secret or closed session, but I'm astounded by this. I don't really know what the tenor of this is, what is the justification for it and why this extreme approach was used."
- The Associated Press, November 1, 2005.
On Strom Thurmond:
- "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either."
- From a speech at Thurmond's 100th birthday party (12/5/02)
On why he does not want to review more evidence during congressional hearings regarding the Abu Ghraib prison scandal:
- "I've already seen enough. Why would I want to go see a bunch of perverted pictures?"
- As reported in The New York Times
On Ronald Reagan:
- "I am an advocate of having a gold dollar with Reagan's picture on it, and calling it the Ronnie. The Canadians have the Loonie, and we can have the Ronnie."
- From an interview in New York Times Sunday Magazine (6/20/04)
On solar energy in a speech to the Independent Petroleum Association of America:
- "I'm sure you petroleum folks understand that solar power will solve all our problems. How much money have we blown on that? This is the hippies' program from the seventies and they're still pushing this stuff."
- As reported in the Washington Post (5/23/97)
On Harriet Miers as Supreme Court Justice:
"I want the President to look across the country and find the best man woman or minority that he can find"
On security versus liberty:
- "I don't agree with the libertarians. I want my security first. I'll deal with all the details after that."
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (12/17/05) http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/13427302.htm
- c.f. Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
On Sunnis and Shia:
- "Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israelis and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me."
On whether to hold a "vote of no confidence" in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:
- "[Congress] is not the British Parliament, and I hope it never will become the British Parliament... Are we going to bring the president in here and have a question period like the prime minister has in Great Britain?"
- Dana Milbank, "A Jolly Good Show, but the Wrong Side of the Pond" The Washington Post 2007-06-12
On filibustering:
- "The filibuster of federal district and circuit judges cannot stand. ... It's bad for the institution. It's wrong. It's not supportable under the Constitution. And if they insist on persisting with these filibusters, I'm perfectly prepared to blow the place up. No problem."
- The Clarion-Ledger, May 23, 2003, "Lott aims to change filibuster rules"