Political Quotes

“Madam President, it is unusual to be here on a Saturday morning in Washington, DC, but recognizing that we have been in the midst of a partial government shutdown for now 29 days, it seems to me that this is an absolutely appropriate place where we should be. We should be here working. We should be here trying to figure out how we get back to the business of governing. I think it is fair to say that there has been a great deal of frustration. I think the four Senators who are assembled in this Chamber today are part of a group with whom I have shared that frustration on a daily, if not hourly, basis. I think there have been very good-faith efforts to try to advance discussions on a bipartisan basis and a bicameral basis, trying to allow for a process that would allow us to consider the work and the legitimate request of a President who has clear priorities when it comes to border security and what we need to do and how we might need to do it, but it is very difficult to do it when we are not fully governing, when you have a partial government shutdown, when you have men and women who we are asking to do the work within their Agencies, but then they are not being paid. They are being told they will be paid when this is all over, but the uncertainty of when that ``all over'' is is very heavy on them--very heavy on them and their families. Today, I want to share with colleagues the view from one community in Alaska. Alaska is a State that relies heavily on our Coast Guard.…”