Joe Lieberman Quotes & Sayings

I share the anger, but, ultimately, to govern this country, it takes more than anger. It takes experience. It takes positions that reflect the best values of the American people. — Joe Lieberman

We must not condemn to frustration those whose job it is to protect us by failing to provide them with the necessary resources to meet the threats they face. — Joe Lieberman

I also know that there have been many times in our history when the proximity of an election has induced exactly the kind of leadership and consensus-building that produce progress in our democracy. — Joe Lieberman

We cannot fulfill that purpose [environmentalism] if we are heaping contempt on God's creation. — Joe Lieberman

[People of faith must] reassure them [atheists] that we share with them the core values of America, that our faith is not inconsistent with their freedom and our mission is not one of intolerance, but one of love ... I stand before you today as a witness to the goodness of God. For me, like you and like my running mate Al Gore, faith provided a foundation, order and purpose in my life. — Joe Lieberman

I believe the president wants this bill, and I know he's taken some steps to bring it about, ... The reality is that with a majority of the members of the House ready to vote for this bill, the speaker refused to call a roll call. — Joe Lieberman

It is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be commander in chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine presidential credibility at our nation's peril — Joe Lieberman

Every day, first responders put their own lives on the line to ensure our safety. The least we can do is make sure they have the tools to protect and serve their communities. — Joe Lieberman

Dear Mr. President: ... We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraq sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs. — Joe Lieberman

I urge the Bush Administration to rethink its priorities. We can't talk about community values without being prepared to invest in those very same communities. — Joe Lieberman

I also urge the Obama administration - both on its own and in cooperation with other responsible governments around the world - to use all legal means necessary to shut down WikiLeaks before it can do more damage by releasing additional cables. WikiLeaks' activities represent a shared threat to collective international security. — Joe Lieberman

'This is America,' my father used to say to me, 'and in this country, a smart young fellow like you can grow up and do just about anything.' My dad, no doubt, was thinking doctor, lawyer, teacher, scientist or businessman. I was thinking second baseman, New York Yankees. — Joe Lieberman

I believe that our national security lies not just in protecting our borders, but in bridging divides. — Joe Lieberman

If the bill remains what it is now, I will not be able to support a cloture motion before final passage. Therefore I will try to stop the passage of the bill. — Joe Lieberman

The stronger our gun control laws are, the fewer acts of violence ... — Joe Lieberman

Hollywood has glorified adult premarital sex, and that is unhelpful if your goal is to reduce teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births. — Joe Lieberman

Community means engaging constructively with like-minded nations to build strong, sustaining institutions and alliances - and bringing emerging powers into this community so future conflict becomes less likely. — Joe Lieberman

In fact, five years ago, after Saddam ejected the UN inspectors, John McCain and I gave up on containment and introduced the Iraqi Liberation Act, which, when it became law, made a change of regime in Baghdad official US policy. You might therefore say that, when it comes to Iraq, President Bush is just enforcing the McCain-Lieberman policy. — Joe Lieberman

The promise of education reform can never be fulfilled without adequate funding, and by shortchanging our schools, President Bush is breaking his promise to our children. — Joe Lieberman

The difference in this town - here in Washington - on the war is not between Democrats and Republicans; it's between people who believe essentially we've already lost in Iraq and it's time to get out - and most of the rest of us who believe not only have we not lost, but we're winning. — Joe Lieberman

[Religion is a way of reconstructing] what has come to feel like a crumbling moral framework in the life of our nation. — Joe Lieberman

We need to ensure our men and women in uniform are equipped with the very best money can buy. We also have to make sure critical military technologies are developed in America and that the U.S. defense manufacturing base remains healthy and strong. — Joe Lieberman

If they prescribe pain killers that may increase the possibility of death so long as their specific intention was not to end life." "Doctors should do everything they can to reduce pain, but not to administer drugs to end life, I think we go over a line then. — Joe Lieberman

There are extensive contacts between Saddam Hussein's government and al Qaeda. — Joe Lieberman

People should cool down a little bit and not look at the people in the other party as enemies. — Joe Lieberman

Senator Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But my friends, eloquence is no substitute for a record - not in these tough times for America. In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party. — Joe Lieberman

In this era of uncertainty and conflict, the United States - blessed with the world's strongest military, most ingenious economy, and most tolerant society - remains a model and leader to the world. — Joe Lieberman

I have a reputation for giving unpopular answers at Democratic debates. I never used marijuana. Sorry! — Joe Lieberman

Global warming is not a conqueror to kneel before - but a challenge to rise to. A challenge we must rise to. — Joe Lieberman

The American military will never lose the war in Iraqif lost, it will be lost by a lack of political will. — Joe Lieberman

It (Lewinskygate) has ... compromised his moral authority — Joe Lieberman

If you voluntarily label a product as being unsuitable for kids and then turn around and market it directly to kids in contradiction of your ratings system, then you should be held accountable just like any other company in America that misleads consumers, .. That's not censorship. That's common sense. — Joe Lieberman

We have the largest economy and the strongest military in the world. Our core values of freedom and opportunity are ascendant around the globe. — Joe Lieberman

Senator Barack Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who I think can do great things for our country. — Joe Lieberman

I have supported affirmative action, I do support affirmative action and I will support affirmative action. — Joe Lieberman

The way we're really going to grow the economy is to invest in people, to invest in innovation, to have the federal government put money in the kind of research that will create the new high-technology, biotechnology industries that will create the millions of new jobs. — Joe Lieberman

Shame on us if 100 years from now our grandchildren are living on a planet that has been irreparably damaged by Global Warming, and they ask, 'How could those who came before us, who saw this coming, have let this happen?' — Joe Lieberman

The anti-tax-cut, soft-on-defense, big-spending Democrats will take the Democratic Party to the edge and maybe over. — Joe Lieberman

I'm a Harry Truman, JFK, Scoop Jackson and Bill Clinton Democrat. — Joe Lieberman

The threat of nuclear terrorism is growing faster than our ability to prevent an attack on our homeland. — Joe Lieberman

I think a lot of people feel that they are just not listened to, and that the politicians in Washington are just playing games with each other and forgetting about their constituents. — Joe Lieberman

Most people want their representatives to get something done. — Joe Lieberman

Sometimes, we try to stifle that fact or hide it, ... But the profound, and ultimately most important, reality is that we are not only citizens of this blessed country, we are citizens of the same awesome God. — Joe Lieberman

I miss the days when faith was discussed in public and not the most intimate details of our personal lives. — Joe Lieberman

Wes Clark put forward a middle class tax plan, but it only helps a quarter of middle class families, none without minor children at home, .. And mine helps 98 percent of the middle class. — Joe Lieberman

When Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990, I felt America's post-Cold War commitment to national principles and international leadership was on the line. I was dismayed by the wide opposition among my fellow Democrats. To me, their position was wrong. — Joe Lieberman

I support development and deployment of a limited national missile defense. Few if any of our duties surpass our obligation to provide for the common defense of our nation. — Joe Lieberman

This is an exciting time. I believe we stand at the edge of a new age - a Golden Age - of freedom that will rival any of the great eras of world history because it will be the entire world itself that is changing. — Joe Lieberman

John Adams, second president of the United States, wrote that our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people ... George Washington warned us never to indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. — Joe Lieberman

Today, we can see with our own eyes what global warming is doing. In that context it becomes truly irresponsible, if not immoral, for us not to do something. — Joe Lieberman

You know, I respect what Howard Dean has been able to do. It's good for our party. But I've got to tell you this: If money alone decided presidential nominations, Phil Gramm would have been nominated in '96. — Joe Lieberman

I mean, accidents happen. You learn from them and you try to make sure they don't happen again. — Joe Lieberman

I'm worried that too many people, both in politics and out, don't appreciate the seriousness of the threat to American security and the evil of the enemy that faces us -more evil or as evil as Nazism and probably more dangerous than the Soviet communists we fought during the long Cold War. — Joe Lieberman

While so much of our economic life is thriving, too much of our moral life is still stagnating. As a people, we need to reaffirm our faith. — Joe Lieberman

I've spent the last year listening to Americans, and the state of the union that George W. Bush lives in is very different from the state that most hardworking Americans are living in. — Joe Lieberman

Republicans can't run their normal playbook on me that they try to run on Democratic candidates. They can't say I flip-flop because I don't. They can't say I'm weak on defense because I'm not. They can't say I'm weak on values because I'm not. They can't say I'm a big taxer and a big spender. — Joe Lieberman

Some in my party threaten to send a message that they don't know a just war when they see it, and more broadly that they're not prepared to use our military strength to protect our security and the cause of freedom. — Joe Lieberman

Whether or not Saddam is implicated directly in the anthrax attacks or the horrors of September 11, he is, by any common definition, a terrorist who must be removed. — Joe Lieberman

Every day Saddam remains in power with chemical weapons, biological weapons, and the development of nuclear weapons is a day of danger for the United States. — Joe Lieberman

Let us break through some of the inhibitions that have existed to talk together across the flimsy lines of separation of faith, to talk together, to study together, to pray together, and ultimately to sing together His Holy name. — Joe Lieberman

We have reached an important milestone and achieved a new momentum in reaching a goal all Americans should embrace - building a secure, peaceful, democratic Iraq that is no longer a threat to the United States or the international community. — Joe Lieberman

I am genuinely an Independent. I agree more often than not with Democrats on domestic policy. I agree more often than not with Republicans on foreign and defense policy. I'm an Independent. — Joe Lieberman

The essential facts are known. We know of the weapons in Saddam's possession: chemical, biological, and nuclear in time. We know of his unequaled willingness to use them. We know his history. His invasions of his neighbors. His dreams of achieving hegemonic control over the Arab world. His record of anti-American rage. His willingness to terrorize, to slaughter, to suppress his own people and others. We need not stretch to imagine nightmare scenarios in which Saddam makes common cause with the terrorists who want to kill us Americans and destroy our way of life. — Joe Lieberman

I support such a review, ... But the reality is that we don't need the results of a strategic study to know that there are some pressing problems in our military that demand our attention and our assistance now. — Joe Lieberman

The danger of terrorists and rogue states is compounded by the proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. — Joe Lieberman