Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to read from a book that we are all very familiar with, the Constitution of the United States, for just a moment. One of my concerns about what we are doing today, though I support the outcome, is written in Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution: ``The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.'' Article I, Section 8, it lays it out pretty simply that the Congress of the United States has the power of the purse. While I support what we are doing today because I recognize the importance of getting chaos and uncertainty off the table for the reasons already stated in this debate, I am disappointed that the agreement was hammered out by basically four people, four plus one, the administration and four Members of the Congress referenced in Article I, Section 8. That is our job. The only meaningful debate that has happened over discretionary spending in this country happened only in this Chamber during the debates on appropriations that Mr. Hoyer referred to earlier. We have had those discussions. I don't agree with everything in those appropriations bills. I never have. But at least we have had that debate on the floor of the House.…”