Verbatim: May 31, 2004

"It's not worthy of the Boy Scouts, let alone this great city." JOHN F. LEHMAN, member of the commission investigating Sept. 11, on the miscommunication among New York City emergency-response agencies on that day

"Catastrophic emergencies and attacks have acts of great heroism attached to them. They have acts of ingenious creativity attached to them, and they have mistakes that happen." RUDOLPH GIULIANI, former mayor of New York City, defending the city's performance before the commission

"If you want to see sacrifice, John McCain ought to visit our young men and women at Walter Reed and Bethesda." DENNIS HASTERT, Speaker of the House, responding to Senator McCain's comment that there had been little U.S. sacrifice for the war in Iraq; McCain, a former POW, said he was referring to the fact that civilians have not been asked to sacrifice

"By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I hereby pronounce you partners for life." THE REV. KIM CRAWFORD HARVIE, minister of the Arlington Street Church in Boston, as she married David Wilson and Robert Compton, one of the first gay couples in Massachusetts to wed after same-sex marriages became legal last week

"I was always certain that if I ever found myself in the position that I am in today, I would follow my inner voice. Today that voice tells me I must humbly decline this post." SONIA GANDHI, leader of India's Congress Party, who was elected Prime Minister but decided not to accept the job, which will go to another party member, Manmohan Singh, a Sikh

"He really does read the newspaper." LAURA BUSH, First Lady, responding to a question about her husband from the Tonight Show's Jay Leno

"It's so nice not to have to wear microphones and have a camera two inches from our faces when we're making out." JESSICA BOWLIN, final choice of The Bachelor's Jesse Palmer, on their relationship since the show's finale was taped two months ago

Sources: New York Times; Reuters; AP; Boston Globe; CNN; AP; New York Daily News