Howard Baker Quotations

It is almost always the cover-up rather than the event that causes trouble.

The most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip it of the emotion and deal with the facts.

I intend to travel to Okinawa and to visit with Okinawa officials and the citizens of Okinawa at an early date. I will send my best analysis of that situation, including the local attitudes, back to Washington, to the government there.

The central question is simply put: What did the president know and when did he know it?

You've got to guard against speaking more clearly than you think.

Any time the United States government turns over an American citizen, including military personnel, to the government of another country, it is in our nature to want to make sure that they receive the best treatment, the fairest treatment, and the most humane treatment.

Demography is changing us as we are older societies, we're living longer. How the generations balance each other out, how that affects education and health care.

I think and hope and believe that the Japanese government and the people of Japan will be happy and content with the progress of justice in this case and that it will not become a great issue in the future.

We must examine then the concerns of the Government of Japan about the language of the treaty itself - of SOFA - and of the interim and further arrangements that have been made since 1995, and see whether or not we need to make any changes. Those are decisions I cannot make.

On the bad loans themselves, all I will say is that we had a similar situation in the United States in the eighties with our Savings and Loan, and we did approach it with a variety of tools, but the principle one was a federal agency that in effect took over those bad loans and took them out of the bank, packaged them, and then managed to merchandise them, to sell them.

I explained the American situation. I promised to pass on the substance of her communication to Washington as soon as possible. I did that. Well, certainly, the issue was difficult and painful. The relationship between Mrs. Tanaka and me and our two governments was difficult, but it was not painful.

We have timers and they will be limiting how long each candidate speaks, or with 41 candidates, we would be there a long, long time.

I acknowledged to Foreign Minister Kawaguchi that the U.S. government is sympathetic to his health condition and that Sgt. Jenkins' medical condition may delay our request for his transfer to U.S. custody.

He is still characterized as a deserter of the U.S. Army. Our government will proceed according to provisions of the law and how that will finally unfold remains to be seen.

I think it is a great tribute to the Government of Japan and to those who were handling it, including the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister, that we were able to negotiate at the highest levels - I mean the President, the Secretary of State, and then my opportunity - without high emotionalism.

It is almost always the cover-up rather than the event that causes trouble, and I see no evidence of a cover-up here, ... What did the president know and when did he know it?

I think the friendship and mutual admiration between the prime minister and the president will facilitate that.

It has always had a good turnout in the past and we are hoping for the same this year.

It is not our purpose to second-guess what other agencies are doing or what the department's doing, but rather to make sure that we know the facts as best they can be ascertained, and to make appropriate recommendations to the secretary and to the president on how this can be avoided, how other challenges to national security may be dealt with,

My own view is that the act ought to expire. We ought to write out a clean slate. We ought to cool off, ... Let some time go by so we can consider the relative merits of the proposals that will no doubt be presented.

We pause to remember the tragic loss of over 3,000 innocent men, women, and children from some 90 countries around the world,

The President said at Camp David that he embraced the reform movement as described by the Prime Minister. And the President of course will speak for himself. I imagine that he supports the Prime Minister in his general efforts to reform the structure and procedures of this economy so that the economy can move forward. America prospers when Japan prospers.

To begin with, I am aware that I am the President's representative in Japan. I am his emissary. That's the way the title reads. And that's the way I present my credentials to the Emperor. I am the President's representative in Japan.

The United States has led in all these things, been in the vanguard of the development of the techniques. So it seems to me that the United States should not be thought of as dragging its foot on environmental quality, but rather questioning the appropriateness of a treaty that has never been submitted to the Senate for debate and consideration.

I've never said that before to a living soul, but I felt obliged to say it to you now,

The welfare of the planet and its environment is paramount. But what we do, and do equally and evenhandedly, is more difficult to identify. I have no doubt in mind that President Bush is serious in his determination to reexamine the overall issue and that would include reexamining the language of the Kyoto treaty.

This man is in terrible shape, ... His health circumstances are really barely short of extreme, and I have no doubt that he's in need of skillful medical attention.

Foreign Minister Kawaguchi told me that Sgt. Jenkins' medical condition is serious and asked that the United States consider the humanitarian aspects of this case,

I want her to play whatever role she's willing to play. I think she has described a range of possibilities, but her experience and her abilities and her talents are so broad that I would predict that there are other opportunities that will present themselves. And she will discover them. But she is a remarkable woman. And she was a remarkable Senator and she will be remarkable here on post in Japan.

I must tell you, Mr. Chairman, I have never been so infuriated in my life from an event such as this,

I'm convinced that they'll come out with a unified position -- perhaps not an identical position, but a unified position,

I hope it shows how much interest people have in working for their community.

If you don't like the question that's asked, answer some other question.

Listen more often than you speak.

In Washington I'm thought of as a conservative, but in Tennessee I'm thought of as a Bolshevik.

The beginning of the decline of the Republic was the day they air-conditioned the Capitol.

Eventually, somebody is going to be a hero, and somebody's going to be president. Not necessarily the same person.

What did the president know, and when did he know it?