We have ten percent of our workforce that works for the Federal Government--ten percent of our workforce. It has had a huge impact on the Maryland economy.

Thank you for pointing out so frequently on the floor of the Senate, in our caucus, and to the American people the harm being caused to our country as a result of the shutdown of government.

We want to make sure government is open. We want to make sure we do not default on our obligations.

You know, we do not have the Federal workers who usually come in here and have lunch. I do not know how much longer we can deal with our current situation with the government shutdown.

You hear the numbers, you hear the thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of people and millions of people, but until you can put a face on it so people can recognize it is their neighbors, it is their community that has been…

if I was one of our foreign counterparties right now, ... these actions would somehow cause them to begin the process of slowly calibrating how they think about the United States as a counterparty.

we have a very large current debt burden in this country, $17 trillion, right, which is obviously a very big and significant number.

we are under-investing in certain areas that actually have been proven and demonstrated to have a good economic payback: infrastructure, certain aspects of education, et cetera.

It is Congress's responsibility to do this. Uncertainty is really hurting this country.

Speaker Boehner has refused to allow the House to vote on a clean continuing resolution that would end the shutdown.

October 1st was a historic day for our country, not because Speaker Boehner shut down the government but because it was the first day millions of Americans could sign up for health care.

Today, our Nation is entering its ninth day--the ninth day of House Speaker John Boehner's government shutdown.

Instead, he is allowing a small group of Republican extremists to pursue their ideological crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Yet Republicans seem willing to jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States of America unless we eliminate the Affordable Care Act.

I deeply regret the fact, going back to 'The Crucible,' that you are going to be pilloried here today.

Even worse, our country is rapidly approaching the debt-ceiling deadline of October 17th.

I have seen a lot of things as a Member of Congress over my 17 years, but I have never seen a committee chairman tell the head of an agency that he could not be present during a public hearing with one of his own employees.

I represented a number of people, and they--when they got a notice of audit from the IRS or they got certain letters from the IRS, they base--would get very upset and very nervous.