Rob Portman Quotes
Quotations and aphorisms by Rob Portman:
Out of college, I had two job offers. One was to be a canoe instructor for Outward Bound. And frankly, that would have paid better than the job I took, working on a policy commission in Washington that focused on immigration policy and refugees. But that decision made all the difference.
~Rob Portman
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We want more of our products going overseas, but the trick is to have a level playing field.
~Rob Portman
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We think healthcare costs should be going down, not up. We think people should be able to keep insurance that they had.
~Rob Portman
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Ohioans need peace of mind that the water coming out of their tap is safe. It's as simple as that.
~Rob Portman
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We want more stuff stamped 'Made in America.'
~Rob Portman
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I'm not here today to tell you government doesn't have a role to play. It does, but it needs to be the right role.
~Rob Portman
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I like to think I am a serious legislator and trying to get things done. That's my goal in life, to get things done.
~Rob Portman
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There has never been a campaign where there hasn't been sniping from the outside and second-guessing. I hear the same sometimes from the Democratic side in terms of President Obama's campaign, so that's to be expected.
~Rob Portman
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Working together with Democrats and Republicans, I passed legislation to help break the grip of addiction. By investing in prevention, treatment, and recovery, empowering law enforcement, and stopping the overprescribing of painkillers, we can turn the tide.
~Rob Portman
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If you start very far to the left, it's harder to get to the middle.
~Rob Portman
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You could have another downgrade. You could certainly have a stock market reaction that would be negative. And, I think nobody who looks at it objectively would want to happen.
~Rob Portman
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No one in my family had ever been in politics. My dad thought it was something that got in the way.
~Rob Portman
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The broad goal, laid out by Congress, the Obama administration, and the U.N. Security Council, was that Iran would suspend all enrichment-related activities and not be permitted a path to ever pursue a nuclear weapons program.
~Rob Portman
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Senator Brown and I have different philosophies as represented in our different ratings: I am a conservative, and he is a liberal.
~Rob Portman
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The way to an American economic comeback, the way to help those out of work today find a paycheck, is to unleash the forces of job creation in America. The source of new jobs isn't going to be the bureaucracies of Washington, but rather the creativity, ingenuity, and hard work of the American people.
~Rob Portman
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Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress believed we could spend our way to prosperity, and I guess they still do.
~Rob Portman
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What we need is fundamental tax reform.
~Rob Portman
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John Kasich is the most popular elected official in Ohio because he got things done.
~Rob Portman
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This past year has been very turbulent for the Middle East, and my conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu strengthened my belief that we need to remain vigilant in our support of our critical ally.
~Rob Portman
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I'm focused, as you can tell, on 2014 and on doing my job as a senator.
~Rob Portman
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The TV ads have been coming hot and heavy in Ohio. I think the Obama campaign has outspent the Romney campaign by two-to-one or three-to-one, depending on the analysis you look at. People are tired of the attacks already, and here we are in July.
~Rob Portman
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The Social Security disability fund is going belly up in 2016.
~Rob Portman
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I served at a time when we had a strong economy, when we had deficits that we would die for today. I was able to propose a balanced budget, not over ten years, but over five years. I'm proud of that record.
~Rob Portman
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When you tax capital gains income, you don't help the economy, you hurt the economy, which is why President Kennedy, President Reagan, President Clinton and President Bush all believed we should have a lower rate for capital gains.
~Rob Portman
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It's the wrong time for us to be pulling the rug out from under American exporters.
~Rob Portman
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As the crisis in Syria grows and the humanitarian tragedy becomes more clear, I appreciated Prime Minister Netanyahu's perspective on the changes and volatility in the region.
~Rob Portman
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Do you agree with me that we can't afford four more years of Barack Obama?
~Rob Portman
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At the end of the day, all the best negotiating techniques can't overcome the most substantive policy differences.
~Rob Portman
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We shouldn't be debating whether to deal with the current code by allowing it to be extended or not. We should have a president who shows leadership and comes to Congress and says: 'You know what? We need to reform this whole tax code.'
~Rob Portman
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I'm on the Armed Services Committee, which gives me the opportunity to get involved on some of these international issues. My focus is, as you know, on the economic issues and budget issues.
~Rob Portman
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The U.S. has fallen behind with tax policies that haven't been updated in a half-century.
~Rob Portman
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What law enforcement will tell you is that in a terrorist act or even an act of people who are involved in crime, such as a drug gang, that they tend to get their weapons illegally.
~Rob Portman
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We need to do a much better job when people are addicted to take them through treatment and recovery.
~Rob Portman
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If you focus on what people care about, you have ideas. And people are looking for solutions.
~Rob Portman
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No one should discriminate.
~Rob Portman
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What I support is a whole different approach with regard to drug use, and that is spending less money on the prosecution and incarceration side and more money on prevention and education, which I know works.
~Rob Portman
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The wealthy are doing just fine in the Obama economy.
~Rob Portman
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I support repeal, but I think we ought to also spend time on the replacement side of that. The Republican approach has never been, 'Let's get rid of this,' but, 'Let's replace it with something that does deal with a very real problem in our healthcare system.' And that is the entry's cost and lack of coverage.
~Rob Portman
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We have to ensure we are aggressively enforcing existing laws.
~Rob Portman
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I can give a speech, and I can do a rally, and I do them, but that's not what I like to do.
~Rob Portman
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Things are not getting better. They are getting worse. We need to elect Mitt Romney to turn things around.
~Rob Portman
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It's not about sizzle for me. I think it's fine. I mean, America made a decision in 2008 to go with a president who did have sizzle.
~Rob Portman
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The Buckeye Build will have a lasting impact on Cleveland, and it is an honor to be a part of it.
~Rob Portman
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Ohio chose the president in 2000 and 2004. The independent voters, the so-called swing voters, are the ones who make the difference.
~Rob Portman
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I'd like to think I'm a serious legislator and trying to get things done.
~Rob Portman
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If you can't even acknowledge that you have to fix Social Security, that's not a very good starting point.
~Rob Portman
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When it is fair, American workers can compete and win. I cannot support the TPP in its current form because it doesn't provide that level playing field.
~Rob Portman
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When you analyze all the data, there is a warming trend according to science. But the jury is out on the degree of how much is manmade.
~Rob Portman
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My view is that I'm best able to serve my state and my country where I am.
~Rob Portman
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Having deinstitutionalized mental health, we have not created the structure and the institutions to take care of people, to identify when there is a mental health problem, and to get the treatment to people.
~Rob Portman
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I'm very happy where I am: I'm a senator from Ohio.
~Rob Portman
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We should not approve an agreement that fails to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and does nothing to address Iranian behavior that threatens our allies and our interests.
~Rob Portman
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I saw the government really using the excuse of a weak economy and a financial crisis to create more government and to push onto the American entrepreneurial society more and more restraints and government activity.
~Rob Portman
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President Obama has been attacking relentlessly. In 2008 he said that if you're out of fresh ideas you use stale tactics against your opponent - you try and make your opponent unacceptable and that's what he is trying to do.
~Rob Portman
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I have decided to endorse Governor John Kasich for president because he is a leader who has a proven record of delivering results. John turned Ohio around at a tough time, and I believe he can do the same for our country.
~Rob Portman
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I think what people are looking for right now is not the kind of pizzazz and pop that perhaps we thought we got in 2008. Certainly, President Obama offered that. What they want now is someone who can work closely with Congress and get things done.
~Rob Portman
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The Obama economy is great for rich people. It's terrible for everybody else.
~Rob Portman
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Instead of focusing on growing jobs and reigniting our economy, President Obama focused on growing government and tried to remake the United States into the image of the debt-laden countries of Europe. His approach has been more spending, more regulation, and higher taxes.
~Rob Portman
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I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married.
~Rob Portman
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There is so much uncertainty out there, and the government in Washington doesn't seem to get it. What's needed is a new business environment.
~Rob Portman
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The tax code is now nine times longer than the Bible, and not nearly as interesting.
~Rob Portman
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Let's replace Obamacare with reforms that put you back in charge of your own healthcare.
~Rob Portman
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One of the big issues in Ohio and elsewhere is people do not have the skills to take advantage of the openings that are out there.
~Rob Portman
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We have a paralysis in Washington that's not serving our country. We have to address these issues.
~Rob Portman
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Kyrie Irving could use a little help.
~Rob Portman
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We need to figure out how to connect people to jobs.
~Rob Portman
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I'm a religious liberty supporter - I strongly believe in that.
~Rob Portman
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I'm up here in Cleveland tonight and there are a lot of folks who are concerned about it. Twenty-five percent of the people up here get their health care through religious organizations and so that religious freedom issue is very important to them.
~Rob Portman
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All of our sons and daughters ought to have the same opportunity to experience the joy and stability of marriage.
~Rob Portman
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We must make clear that if you come here illegally, you will be sent back home.
~Rob Portman
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The Obama administration has refused to back down on the insurance mandate that needlessly pits health care against the rights of the religious... This administration simply doesn't get it.
~Rob Portman
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I'm not representing any organization. I represent the people of Ohio, and a lot of people in Ohio feel very strongly about their Second Amendment rights.
~Rob Portman
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For all our current troubles, Americans are still the hardest working, most innovative people on the face of the earth. By trusting the American people, instead of government, we'll continue to surprise and inspire the world.
~Rob Portman
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We should not throw in the towel. Instead, we should be saying to young people, 'There is a better way for you to have a healthy and productive life, and that's not to get into drug use and drug abuse.'
~Rob Portman
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I do think you need to listen to the voters.
~Rob Portman
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My dad did everything he could. It was a start-up, and the banks didn't want to lend him enough money, so he mortgaged our house.
~Rob Portman
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My concern about Barack Obama is he ran a campaign in 2008 where he said we're going to bring people together and solve big problems. And he specifically talked about the need to reach across the aisle and deal with issues like the economy, which was obviously the top issue in 2008. It has not happened.
~Rob Portman
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People vote for the president, not the vice president. I think sometimes people that are in the veepstakes talk too much about this and certainly the media does. I don't think that it's that important.
~Rob Portman
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I don't know what's going to happen specifically on votes on Obamacare. I suspect we'll vote to repeal early to put on record the fact that we Republicans think it's a bad policy, and we think it's hurting our constituents, and we think health care cost should be going down, not up.
~Rob Portman
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I was fortunate, I guess, to be part of some good fiscal discipline in the Bush administration. The budget I put forward was a balanced budget.
~Rob Portman
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I may sound naive, since everyone's decided the next two years are going to be all about 2016, but I look at what's happened over the years when there's been divided government. That's when we've done tax reform, that's when we've done entitlement reform - to move this economy forward on these big issues.
~Rob Portman
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We need a broader party. If we're not doing better with millennials and women and Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans and others, we will have a tough time being a majority party at the national level.
~Rob Portman
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I have acknowledged the problem and have spent my time in Congress focusing on solutions - including developing clean and efficient energy that grows our economy and creates jobs while also lowering pollution levels and protecting the environment.
~Rob Portman
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I hope that the entire Senate votes to say that if you're on the terrorist watch list - not just the no-fly list, which is a much more targeted list, but the terrorist watch list - you should not be able to buy a weapon.
~Rob Portman
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Our country needs people who are maybe a little less focused on themselves and on the flash and a little more focused on how do we actually create a better environment for success for our young people, how do we get people back to work, how do we regain our standing internationally.
~Rob Portman
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I told my staff that I'm so boring that I didn't even know I was boring.
~Rob Portman
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The Iron Dome system is a proven way for Israel to defend its citizens from hostile threats and will advance missile defense technology for us and other allies.
~Rob Portman
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Trump and Bernie Sanders are different sides of the same coin.
~Rob Portman
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Trump is going to be the change agent. Hillary Clinton is going to be the status quo. Bernie Sanders is not going to be in the mix.
~Rob Portman
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Habitat for Humanity is making Cleveland better every day.
~Rob Portman
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Some have said, 'Gosh, Donald Trump is going to hurt you.' Some have said, 'Gosh Donald Trump is going to help you.' He may be helpful in certain parts of Ohio, but I'm going to run my own campaign.
~Rob Portman
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I am disappointed that the President made the decision to have Ambassador Froman sign the TPP agreement in New Zealand.
~Rob Portman
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Folks, do you agree with me that we cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama?
~Rob Portman
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President Obama likes to talk about the Buffett Rule. Well, here's a Buffett Rule that all Americans should be able to support: mom and pop businesses should not pay a higher tax rate than Fortune 500 corporations like Warren Buffett's.
~Rob Portman
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I believe it's wrong to say someone can't do his or her job because of their heritage.
~Rob Portman
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Decisions about your health should be between you and your doctor, not a bureaucrat and an insurance company. Let's expand choice rather than limiting it. Let's create jobs instead of destroying them. And let's bring down the costs instead of driving them up.
~Rob Portman
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This is his solution: He said all we need to do is take your tax dollars, send them to Washington, have Washington take out its cut, having Washington then send it back to the states, have the states then go out and hire public employees. Does that make sense to you? Is that how to get the economy moving?
~Rob Portman
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