Sherrod Brown Quotes

“If we’re going to pass international trade agreements, as we should, they should have similar kind of rules, not as high a wage as obviously as a steelworker in the U.S. or in Lorain, Ohio, but certainly rules on the environment and worker safety. You go to Mexico, you don’t see those kinds of worker protections or environmental safeguards.”

― Sherrod Brown

“When the federal government invests in education, it should support quality education and career readiness rather than institutions that make empty promises.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I have generally and will always fight for clean air and safe drinking water laws.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Our men and women in uniform make enough sacrifices for our country. Their credit rating should not be one of those sacrifices.”

― Sherrod Brown

“American tax dollars spent on education are meant to support students, not support aggressive, deceptive, and misleading marketing campaigns by certain for-profit education companies.”

― Sherrod Brown

“My priorities are to continue to fight for manufacturing in my state and for jobs and health care and deal with lead issues in my beloved city of Cleveland, where I live, and every other city in the industrial Midwest.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Clevelanders care about underdogs, partly because we are, partly because we have empathy, and we’re – we have faith in our God and faith in humanity, and that makes us support the underdog.”

― Sherrod Brown

“With every year that passes, the more we have to be careful not to forget the causes and consequences of the Great Recession.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Workers organized and fought for worker rights and food safety, Social Security and Medicare – they fought to change government. And they won.”

― Sherrod Brown

“It is unacceptable that someone can work full time – and work hard – and not be able to lift themselves out of poverty.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Ohio is one of only two states that have a minimum wage below the federal level of $5.15 an hour.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Raising the minimum wage means raising the living wage – and that’s good news for Ohio.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The current minimum wage simply is not supporting Ohio’s working families.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Young people have been at the forefront of every great social movement in our country’s history.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Anyone who’s tried to pay a heating bill, fill a prescription, or simply buy groceries knows all too well that the current minimum wage does not cut the mustard.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Big government conservatives are spending trillions and wasting billions. Republicans are no longer the party of fiscal conservancy, but the party of runaway spending and corruption.”

― Sherrod Brown

“It is past time for Republican leadership to answer for record deficits and reckless spending, both in Iraq and in the U.S. It’s time for a plan to bring our troops home.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The administration needs to speak honestly with the American people. Exaggerating our progress in defeating the insurgency or in creating an Iraqi army paints a dangerous picture.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The president overstepped his authority when he asked the NSA to eavesdrop on Americans’ international phone calls without obtaining a warrant.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The reality in Iraq is that we are creating new terrorists and severely damaging the public impression of the United States in the Muslim world.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The Republicans are running wild with our tax dollars and it’s been a mistake to let this administration continue a policy of incompetence when it comes to Iraq.”

― Sherrod Brown

“This drug coverage program was clearly designed by Republicans in Congress to serve the interests of the drug and insurance industries. America’s seniors were an afterthought.”

― Sherrod Brown

“This year, we are going to take our government out of the hands of corporate special interests and put it back into the hands of Ohio families – where it belongs.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We must have a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces – or at the very least a plan for it – something the administration has incredulously failed to do for over two years.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We were told this war would be over in a matter of weeks, and that the Iraqis would be able to finance it with oil sales. We were promised it was not a mission of nation building.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Year after year, President Bush has broken his campaign promises on college aid. And year after year, the Republican leadership in Congress has let him do it.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We should not mislead the Iraqis into thinking they have unlimited time to reach a settlement. The longer they think that, the less likely they will be to act.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I’m disappointed that Senator DeWine once again chose to go along with his party leaders and their big corporate lobbyist supporters. Ohio deserves a Senator who will be more than a rubber stamp.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Republican leadership in Congress let the energy companies write the energy bill that sent prices soaring, and has turned a blind eye to the struggles of working families trying to make ends meet.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Thousands of Ohio families are going deeper and deeper in debt just trying to pay their heating bills, fill prescriptions, and buy groceries. The current minimum wage is simply not enough.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We must support initiatives that provide clear, concrete measures and milestones that our troops need for defeating the insurgency, building up Iraqi security forces, and handing over Iraq to the Iraqi people.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I have studied the details, listened to Ohioans on all sides of this issue, and consulted with nuclear experts. This deal is not about trusting the Iranian regime, but instead working with our allies on comprehensive, verifiable restrictions to block Iran’s pathways to a nuclear bomb without precipitating another war in the Middle East.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I don’t look in the mirror and see a president of the United States. I don’t have that ambition.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Since the beginning of the Bush administration when we were attacked, September 11th, we’ve not had any major terrorist attack in this country. We’ve had individual crazy people, of normally, they look more like me than they look like Middle Easterners.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Individual people shouldn’t be fearful, because by and large our government, the federal government – people always talk; obviously, they don’t trust the feds, whatever. The federal government and local communities have done a pretty good job at keeping us safe.”

― Sherrod Brown

“There is no war on coal. Period. There are more coal jobs and more coal produced in Ohio than there were five years ago, in spite of the talking points and the yard signs.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The debate over Social Security should not be about how much we can cut from the program in order to balance the federal budget. The debate over Social Security should not be about raising the retirement age or limiting benefits. The debate over Social Security should be about retirement security.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We know that, too often, oil and other hazardous materials are shipped across the country on aging tankers. Too many communities have seen what happens when trains derail and in some cases catch fire.”

― Sherrod Brown

“As Ohio’s working families continue to recover from the worst economic recession in our country’s history, we need a president who’s committed to growing our economy by lifting up the middle class.”

― Sherrod Brown

“From opposing unfair trade deals to fighting for a fair financial system, Hillary Clinton has shown she puts working families first. She knows as president that her first job will be creating jobs for the middle class. I am proud to endorse her today because I know she will keep Ohio moving forward.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I look back at history, and some of the worst governments we’ve ever had, you know one of the first things they ever did? They went after the trade unions.”

― Sherrod Brown

“My Lutheran faith is important to me.”

― Sherrod Brown

“No Ohio family should be forced to go hungry during the holidays or any time.”

― Sherrod Brown

“There’s no question there’s enough information available to all of us in this society for darn near anything. The problem is the quality of the information, the presentation of it… You shouldn’t have to be a lawyer.”

― Sherrod Brown

“That just doesn’t make sense, that government should be making money off students.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Ohio workers and Ohio manufacturers already know that we are, in fact, in a trade war, and the Chinese have done very well, thank you.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Most Ohioans would be surprised to know that the same Wall Street megabanks which received bailouts from taxpayers in 2009 also receive taxpayer-funded advantages today simply because of their ‘too big to fail’ status.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I have zero interest in being vice president.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I love working for the people of Ohio, and I have a lot more work to do as their senator.”

― Sherrod Brown

“When China fails to live up to its obligations, we push back – sort of. We accept arguments from Chinese leaders that they are a developing country that needs time to reform.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We should forcefully call out China whenever it violates international standards.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We’re a country of rule of law, and rule of law doesn’t move fast, especially in an entity as big the U.S. government.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We must work harder to lessen inequalities. Only by doing so can we speak with credibility and moral authority to other countries and the People’s Republic of China.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The Ohio Legislature’s passed a law to allow concealed weapons in day care centers, but interesting: this same Legislature, in its wisdom, doesn’t allow concealed weapons in the statehouse.”

― Sherrod Brown

“When I say they’re lunatics, that’s what I’m talking about. People that think you should allow guns in day care centers, but they’re protecting themselves by not allowing guns in their workplace, that would be in that category of lunatics.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Foreign companies in the United States have a significantly higher unionization rate than other companies overall.”

― Sherrod Brown

“What’s the deal with Johnny Damon? He can’t hit. He can’t catch. He can’t throw. He’s sort of the five-tool guy… without any of the tools!”

― Sherrod Brown

“If we expect to continue our leadership in the global economy, we must invest in a long-term transportation plan -f or both highways and transit programs. Too many of our roads, bridges, and railways have fallen into disrepair.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Ohioans, I think, in large numbers, have felt that the government has not been on their side in all of these issues: on pensions, on the cost of prescription drugs, on the health-care system generally, on jobs, on trade agreements.”

― Sherrod Brown

“People feel these job-killing trade agreements have really squeezed the middle class and caused lots of people to lose their middle-class status.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Understand, this is unemployment insurance. It’s not welfare, as a lot of my Republican colleagues like to suggest it is. You pay into it when you’re working. You get help when you’re not.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The failure of one regional bank, assuming it is following a traditional model, will not threaten the entire system.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We see – every week or two, we see another story of a small business that went out of business because Donald Trump.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Donald Trump outsources his ties to China. He outsourced his furniture to Turkey. I know a company in Ohio that could make that furniture in Archibald, Ohio.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I know companies in Cleveland that could make the suits and the other things that Donald Trump has outsourced.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Hard-working men and women who have made America the strongest nation in the world are betrayed by Washington’s trade policy.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Trump has words, but there’s not really any depth there.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I love the job I’m doing.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I welcome the work that the Clinton Global Initiative has done with groups and individuals like Bono and all that’s happened around the world.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We get paid to do this work, and fellow senators need to do their jobs.”

― Sherrod Brown

“President Obama did something that no Democrat’s done since Franklin Roosevelt: that is, get a majority vote in Ohio twice. So I don’t really buy that his policy is that unpopular.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I see something different in Hillary Clinton. She wants a trade prosecutor. She’s going after currency. She’s going stand up strong on keeping China designated as a non-market economy.”

― Sherrod Brown

“There are people working in Mahoning Valley in steel, in Findlay, Ohio, in rubber, in many other places because we’ve enforced trade deals.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We will see a different trade policy coming out of here, and I’m convinced of it. I wouldn’t be supporting Hillary Clinton if I didn’t believe that.”

― Sherrod Brown

“There is going to be globalization, but we need to do it under terms – under rules that work as rules work for our domestic economy on the dynamic of capitalism. You need to do trade in the same way.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I see all four presidential candidates, the leading four, Cruz and Trump and Sanders and Clinton, all oppose TPP.”

― Sherrod Brown

“If anything, one would think we learn from Brexit is we need a strong, stable banking system, not one to repeal the consumer bureau and repeal Dodd-Frank and give Wall Street what it wants. That would be the worst kind of response.”

― Sherrod Brown

“For Trump, it’s always about Trump and how he makes more money.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We’re losing all kinds of white-collar jobs, all kinds of jobs in addition to manufacturing jobs, which we’re losing by the droves in my state.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We have rules about the environment and rules about worker safety and rules about consumer protection.”

― Sherrod Brown

“If we’re going to do trade agreements, as we should, we need trade agreements with rules that will lift up all boats, rather than continuing to pull down U.S. food safety standards, U.S. worker wages, environment, all that these job losses and all that this has done to pull down our standards.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I don’t believe Trump or Cruz are fair traders. I think they are probably both free traders.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Working families in Ohio have been hurt badly. It started really with the Bush years.”

― Sherrod Brown

“Secretary Clinton, right from day one, wants to do real investment in public works and infrastructure, building highways and bridges, building airports, to doing what we need to do that way which lifts the economy up, undoubtedly.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I am very confident that in 2008, people’s votes will count. I don’t think they did in 2004. I think in 2008, they will.”

― Sherrod Brown

“We need to deal with helping middle-class kids get a college education.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I want to do things for the people of this country.”

― Sherrod Brown

“My priorities are a fair trade policy in this country, increasing the minimum wage, going after the drug companies for the way that they charge and their whole pricing structure that have put absolutely amazing drugs out of reach for so many Americans.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The overwhelming number of Democrats… think our trade policy has gone in the wrong direction. They think that our trade policy encourages companies to leave the country. They think our trade policy has caused more and more businesses to outsource.”

― Sherrod Brown

“The voters in both parties understand our trade policy really has betrayed the middle class.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I know that on trade and on enforcement and rules of origin, on autos, on issues like taxation, on outsourcing of jobs, I know that – and on Wall Street reform, Hillary Clinton’s going to do the right thing.”

― Sherrod Brown

“I feel lucky that I get the privilege of serving in the Senate.”

― Sherrod Brown

“For decades, or at least for years, Republican politicians have been dog whistling about race. And then, when – they’re shocked when Donald Trump starts barking.”

― Sherrod Brown

“One of the things I do in banking committees is put pressure on them, and one of the other things I do is through my website, through outside pressure, and I ask people to come and help us join that fight where we can get people outside to keep putting the pressure on the Senate to make sure there are no compromises and weakening of Dodd-Frank.”

― Sherrod Brown