Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we are beginning to wrap up the appropriations package, which includes the fiscal year 2019 bills for the Subcommittees on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government; Agriculture, Rural Government, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; as well as Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, or T-HUD. This is really quite an accomplishment this morning. It is perhaps not necessarily noted in the trade press out there, but the fact is, we are doing our business here. We are doing the business of lawmakers and legislators when it comes to our annual spending bills. The fact that this is August 1 and we will be wrapping up in a matter of an hour or so, a couple of hours, 4 appropriations bills on top of the 3 that we have previously done--so 7 out of the 12 appropriations bills--is good progress. This is important progress. Some might say it is historic progress. I say it is progress that is long overdue. I believe it is because of the leadership of Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy. They came together to basically lay down a path forward for the Appropriations Committee, urging us, as chairmen of our respective subcommittees, to go back to a process that was a working and functioning process where we do the work of appropriators--not as authorizers but as appropriators--in advancing these multiple spending bills.…”