David Vitter Quotations

We do not need international help to stop corruption, we need strong Louisiana Leadership.

Catholic schools prepare every student to meet the challenges of their future by developing their mind, yes, but also their body and their soul and spirit.

Marriage is a core institution of societies throughout the world and throughout history. Its something that has provided permanence and stability for our very social structure.

Ronald Reagan's vision of smaller government, less taxes, and a strong national defense has led to a prosperous America. As president, he rebuilt our military and reinvigorated our confidence in ourselves.

The United Nations has no business in our elections.

We have history as a guide, and history suggests that this brand of comprehensive reform ... is a recipe for failure.

I have no skeletons in my closet.

We should demand that (Customs and Border Protection) focus on the true priority that we face on the war on terror... Stripping small amounts of prescription drugs from the hands of seniors... that should not be a priority.

Ronald Reagans vision of smaller government, less taxes, and a strong national defense has led to a prosperous America. As president, he rebuilt our military and reinvigorated our confidence in ourselves.

D energy - Domestic jobs; Domestic energy; Deficit reduction.

I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams!

This program would clearly allow for the forgiveness of loans,

What I am suggesting is that I'd love to see more written material that predates the nomination,

She suggested basically that a lot more was being read into that than what she was trying to express,

One of the appropriation bills, the Transportation Treasury HUD Appropriation Bill, had money put into the bill at the committee level, ... When it comes out of committee once we return to session after Labor Day, we'll be passing it off the floor of the Senate. I'm confident that money will be there, plus maybe a little more if possible in the final conference committee version.

My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess,

Richard is a senior member of the House's Transportation Committee, ... I was on a relevant Senate committee. We were both named to the joint legislative committee which developed the final version of the bill. If not for Richard's leadership, a lot of this wouldn't have gotten done.

On the positive side, I'm very impressed so far with Vice Admiral Allen,

I was really uplifted here. There are heroes to this story and they are the local leaders and private citizens who banded together in the individual communities that were devastated to just get the job done in the initial days, with no help in those initial days coming in from outside, they got it done and they are the real heroes.

I have four children, and they are my four greatest reasons to make sure we meet our goal of securing a strong future for Louisiana.

I'd love to see more written material that predates the nomination,

I am hopeful we are turning the corner.

I feel very strongly that we need a strong federal leader,

I'd very much like to explore that, ... I know it's a big idea and it's very ambitious and costly, but I think we need to explore that, particularly a southern route going through Ascension and Livingston and connecting I-12 to I-10.

If the American people lose confidence in this effort, Louisiana and the victims of the storm are going to suffer, so we have to have those protections in place.

This wasn't a failure of one person, although it was that also, ... It was a failure of the whole bureaucracy, and the solution to that isn't getting a new head bureaucrat or a new type of head bureaucrat. I think the whole bureaucratic FEMA model is what has to be probably discarded.

Hopefully today is the turnaround, that is my prayer,

It could have that effect. Our (legislation) would provide an incentive for people to come back.

I welcome the boldness of his vision. ... Clearly the tough work remains to be done, and everybody, including Congress, needs to roll up their sleeves and get that work done.

I think the ultimate test of this concept is what concrete, positive, bold action this produces.

(Last week) was tough. It was hard. Now we're here a week later and things are turning the corner. People are upbeat. We came here to listen, to learn, to talk to people and to analyze what went wrong. And so far we've learned a lot.

I think everyone did better after Rita because of the experience of Katrina,

I roll up my sleeves and actively get involved in that, in partnership with all of you.

Our goal is to have a full and fair debate vote in September, ... If Judge Roberts is to be confirmed, we'd like to have him on the court by the time it goes back into session Oct. 3.

Please know that I will continue to be a full partner in that effort, trying to get whatever federal Funding and assistance is possible,

Many folks, including me, frankly, were disappointed that Senator Landrieu a few years ago filibustered and supported that filibuster of Miguel Estrada ... after she had expressed strong support of that very nomination in her re-election campaign,

I think money is absolutely being wasted, ... Louisiana workers and Louisiana businesses are not being used.

We need all the federal help that we can get to rebuild the city of New Orleans and our coastal communities,

We need a Katrina reconstruction commission headed by a no-nonsense, nonpolitical, businessman manager so that we all have something lasting to show for this spending,

That would be absolutely horrible news for our Gulf states.

I would like to know what street that is because that's a crazy street,

My central question still remains .... Is there objective, written evidence from prior to her nomination that fully shows that she has a truly consistent and well-grounded conservative judicial philosophy?

When something like an offshore drilling station is located within that boundary of a state, that's 100 percent of royalties that state receives, ... The way it's written up right now is just not fair to states like Louisiana.

Wendy and I grew up in New Orleans, and every place we know and have so many wonderful memories of, is almost all under water,

We'll only victimize the victims of Katrina all over again.

We need to be able to get them the cash they need to be able to live and survive, even in the near term, because many of these folks live paycheck to paycheck, ... The Early Show.

We haven't been disciplined enough over the last 10 years. We need to do that, and we needed to do that before Katrina. We still need to do that over the medium and long term,

Unfortunately, we're at the top of a really bad list, ... That is railway crossing accidents and fatalities. Although we're not a populous state, we rank in the Top 3 in railway accidents and the Top 5 in deaths related to railway accidents. We have as many dangerous railway crossing as just about any state, except maybe for California and Illinois.

To me, the single most important thing to me is that he has the right judicial philosophy, ... He will read the law as written by Congress and apply it to the facts of a case as written and not make it up as he goes along based on his views.

We just have horrible conditions to deal with, ... For instance, every and route into the city except one is flooded and obviously we are using air assets, but it is tough. They are moving things into the city, diesel fuel, water, ice food etc as fast as they can.

The person would have no authority the government doesn't already have. It would be someone who could cut through the red tape.

What's important to real people in the real world in the real devastated area is that we get real help to them today, not give a speech, not filibuster,

We're talking about an entire major American metropolitan area that has been completely dislocated, completely evacuated, ... Last time that happened in American history was the Civil War.

confident that we're going to get full consideration of these ideas coming out of the Louisiana delegation.

And we can't have that completely counteracted by a big, big tax increase by not making the current cuts permanent, ... This Week.

The situation has gotten a lot better. The water is not rising right now in New Orleans.

Right now, we're transitioning from immediate issues of saving lives to long-term issues of rebuilding, including rebuilding the job base,

This action today to fund brand new projects, most of which are unrelated to the hurricane, is going to have a lot of folks up here scratching their heads, ... It's not going to build confidence in what we're doing on the ground, and that confidence building is an absolutely necessary part of what we need to have success in Congress.

As we proceed toward the U.S. Senate hearings for her confirmation, I expect she will provide more information about her life's work. I'll need to see this objective evidence prior to making my decision.

It's the only plan we had, ... There was no plan B.

That is a subject of a lot of discussion between many of us and the administration,

That makes a lot of sense, ... I don't have a problem with that.

It's not a question of if, ... It's a question of when.

It's not a perfect bill but it's a good, solid bill worth passing,

Everyone gets it. This isn't simply a bad hurricane. This is an ongoing challenge and an ongoing situation which takes enormous response, including enormous federal response.

I've heard many Washington talking heads say that heads must roll, ... I'm all for that and have my own personal list. But that alone isn't enough. We need to look at the big picture - not just what people failed but also what institutions and models failed and, just as importantly, what others worked against all odds.

I'm really pleased that the President has named a single, focused federal coordinator for the hurricane recovery effort, ... to begin an important dialogue about just what leadership and focus is needed on the ground in Louisiana.

I'm very happy and focused right now on this job,

I'm very excited to be at least some small part in the effort, ... This is a great, state-of-the-art facility that can be used for many events, especially the equestrian and 4-H activities. It also is a broader resource for education and economic development.

I just think the state is going to have to be involved in that helpful way, ... I just want to express my deep frustration about folks in Baton Rouge who apparently are completely focused on why this can't work instead of figuring out how to make it work so we can get these communities through these very crucial next several months.

I really think the biggest challenge is to convince those in Washington that we have a smart, bold plan to rebuild in the right way,

by far the best organized parish in the state.

greatly enhance the economic development of the area.

The first thing we did was increase the amount we bring back to Louisiana, ... We have been and still are what's called a 'donor state.' For every $1 of federal gasoline tax that we spend, we get less than $1 back in federal highway funds. That's wrong, particularly because we are very needy and are considered a relatively poor state.