Tim Russert Quotations

Should we freeze or postpone prospective tax cuts and avoid any new tax cuts until we are sure we have the money to pay for the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq.

Looking at the high cost of occupation in Iraq and the needs we have in this country, would it not have been better to have smaller tax cuts in order to keep down the deficits.

I wouldn't want to attach a time limit to it, but it includes things like making sure there's potable water, making sure there's a 911 system in place, telephone, a means to notify people there is an approaching storm so you can evacuate it with the weakened levee situation,

No one likes to be in the center of these things,

Of course, if he had a wife he would say, 'Honey, you're lucky to have me.'

Mr. Kilgore you day you support widening I-66 inside the beltway and another crossing over the Potomac River. Tell us why you think those projects are so important, how you're going to pay for them, and how you're going to connect 66 with the bridges.

Meet the Press ... But there has been no weapons of mass destruction.

Shouldn't the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of New Orleans bear some responsibility

Whatever the criticisms and the after-action report may be about what was right and what was wrong looking back, what would be a horrible tragedy would be to distract ourselves from avoiding further problems because we're spending time talking about problems that have already occurred,

I think that was one of your staff, Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate.

Those who could not get out were the poor, who rely on public buses to get out! Your website says that your department assumes primary responsibility for a national disaster - if you knew a hurricane three storm was coming, why were buses, trains, planes ... provided on Friday, Saturday, Sunday to evacuate people before the storm?

We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, ... FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. We had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, 'Come and get the fuel right away.' When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. 'FEMA says don't give you the fuel.'

We're an optimistic people, but something is amiss. People feel it, and I think it partly revolves around the war.

We have lost one of our very, very best,

And you are convinced the Kurds, the Sunnis, the Shiites will come together in a democracy?

to suggest that we need several hundred thousand troops there after military operations cease, after the conflict ends, I don't think is accurate. I think that's an overstatement.

Northern Virginia has a large immigrant population, many of whom help fill the severe labor shortage in blue collar jobs like construction and landscaping. Do you support using public money to build a day laborer site like Herndon did?

Somebody wants to nitpick a man's tragic loss of a mother ... are you kidding?

America has just begun the 21st century. if you could select two items for a time capsule that best represents America in the 21st Century. what would they be?

Americans for Rice, a group that hopes to draft Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a presidential candidate in 2008, has paid for a 60-second ad to run in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday night during ABC's 'Commander in Chief,' a new show about a female president of the United States. Iowa, of course, traditionally holds the first presidential contest, a caucus system. The same ad appeared in New Hampshire...during the Sept. 27 broadcast of 'Commander in Chief.' New Hampshire, of course, traditionally holds the first presidential primary.

Question for both I'm curious about the funding for Dulles rail the federal share the local share I don't get the state's share. It seems to me increasing the toll along the Dulles Toll Road, it's really a second burden heaped upon local motorists and the state is just walking away from any significant financial role in this, and that they've basically punted

Are you, or anyone who reports to you, contemplating resignation?

The response to the Bills in Western New York has been extraordinary. It is a team that sells out. It's a team that is responsive to its fan base. It's a team that has been performing better and better on the field.

Inside the C.I.A. leak indictments, including the role of journalists, including yours truly,

The Bills, I believe, have a very good future if this agreement can be worked out, thoroughly discussed, and everything is open.

I want to do everything I can, of course, to keep the Bills in Buffalo.

not been able to derail the political process.

Hey, do you know that all the reporters know that Mr. Wilson's wife works at the CIA?

Clearly the special counsel has made a judgment, ... that when taking the comments and statements of Matt Cooper and Judy Miller and myself as opposed to Scooter Libby, he has decided that Mr. Libby was not telling the truth.

there was a perception created of incompetence, some even said callousness and he needs to replace it with compassion.

It's an affirmation of the history of Meet the Press.

That is exactly what I tried to do. It's a delicate balance. You want to ask the right questions, the right follow-up, but you also have to realize that you could easily spend the entire hour on one subject.

How troubling is that to you, that only 2 percent of African-Americans say that George Bush is doing a good job as president?

I cannot find a pollster who can remember any president ever getting just two percent approval from African-Americans.