Political Quotes

“just a few months ago, we stood here on the Senate floor celebrating the progress we had made together in the appropriations process, as Senator Leahy has just alluded to. I believe we are all tired of lurching from crisis to crisis amid partisan bickering. Both sides resolved then to put aside partisan differences and work together for the good of the American people, and it worked. Together, we funded 75 percent of the government on time. While we would have preferred to have funded 100 percent, it was considerably more progress than we had made in decades. Yet we find ourselves here today more than 1 month into the longest partial shutdown of the government in American history. It is enough to give you whiplash. Funding the remaining 25 percent of government is a task before us here today. Homeland security, border security, is the linchpin. We know that. Are our differences really as insurmountable as they seem? They should not be, and I want to discuss why. Last May, the Appropriations Committee considered the fiscal year 2019 Homeland Security bill. That bill included money for a physical barrier at the southern border. In fact, it included an increase in funding over the 2018 level for a physical barrier. Our Democratic colleagues made no attempt to strike this funding, just as Republicans made no effort to strike funding for Democratic priorities in the bill. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the committee--a vote of 26 to 5.…”