James Traficant

James Anthony "Jim" Traficant, Jr. (May 8, 1941 – September 27, 2014) was a Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from 1981 to 2002. He was expelled from Congress after being convicted of accepting bribes, filing false tax returns, and racketeering.

Quotes

• Beam me up, Mr. Speaker.
  • Said on numerous occasions at the end of speeches in Congress, quoted in "Traficant guilty of bribery, racketeering". Law Center (CNN.com). April 12, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-01-31. 

• Mr. Speaker, we are here now in chapter 11. Members of Congress are official trustees presiding over the greatest reorganization of any bankrupt entity in world history, the U.S. government.
  • Speech in Congress (1993)

• Mr. Speaker, Kodak is laying off 10,000 workers. Now if that is not enough to overexpose your most recent negative, Fruit of the Loom is cutting 3,000 jobs and moving to Mexico. Unbelievable. It is getting easier to find Charlie Trie and Elvis than it is to find a good factory job here in America. Beam me up. I think it is time for Congress to ask themselves a very simple little commonsense question: If our trade program is so great, why does Japan not do it? Think about that. I yield back all the balance of jobs and say one last thing here. From snapshots to long johns, American workers just keep getting their assets kicked.
  • speech on the House floor (12 NOV 1997)

• Beam me up. The IRS does not need more workers. The IRS does not need more money. These stumbling, fumbling, bumbling mistake-prone nincompoops have got to go.
  • speech on the House floor (18 July 2001)

• Many of them are so dumb they could throw themselves at the ground and miss.
  • Denunciation of the press (18 July 2002), quoted in "House panel votes to expel Traficant". Inside Politics (CNN.com). July 18, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-01-08. 

External links