Dan Webster
Dan Webster
Daniel Alan Websteris an American politician who has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 2011. Webster, a Republican from Florida, initially represented Florida's 8th congressional district; since 2013, his district has been numbered the 10th district, located in the central part of the state. Previously, Webster served 28 years in the Florida state legislature...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth27 April 1949
CountryUnited States of America
As a former minority leader who became the first Republican Speaker of the House in Florida since Reconstruction, I know that leadership is not an easy task.
Some people have been talking about - every place I go, they bring up the issue of foreign aid. I go, 'You can't get rid of all foreign aid.'
I've been a speaker. I've been a majority leader. I've been a minority leader. Those are the sort of things I don't need any more.
Power tends to protect itself merely to maintain its own status and control. Principle gives up power for the sake of creating the best public policy.
Power says if you are a committee chairman, your idea is good only because you have got power.
Power focuses on self-preservation; principle focuses on making ideas successful.
Principle says it's not who put forth an idea. It's not the position of the person who put forth an idea; it's not the longevity of the person or the party of the person. That's not what it is at all. In a power system, that's the way it works. But in a principle system, it's what it says.
I've never, in my whole 30 years in office, run a negative ad.
I've never hidden my faith, but there are only a couple of issues I would die for. There are a few others I would dig my heels in on, and I've told my caucus that what they see is what they get.
Once we relieve them from sanctions, their economy opens up, and they can sell oil and pistachios and whatever else they sell around the world. That was why Iran needed a deal. Everyone knows they fund terrorism around the world. Having that extra money will add a lot of problems and create a lot more hot spots.
You take away the money from Israel? No. That's something we can't do.
We passed a bill in 1997, signed by Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, which created a pilot program for a novel experiment called Florida Virtual School. The notion of children using a computer for a classroom and reporting to virtual teachers wasn't exactly mainstream thinking in those days.
My job was to get a fair and open hearing to all ideas.
My expectations are not in any future event. I would rather just be prepared for whatever might take place.