Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak out against this manufactured monster that we know as sequestration--across-the-board cuts that hurt our economy and jeopardize our families. In small-town west Texas, when there is a fire, everyone works together to put the fire out, and no one focuses on how the fire started or who started the fire until after the fire is out. Here and now in Washington, many folks are more focused on who is to blame for the sequester than in trying to do anything about it or, worse, they use inflammatory rhetoric to add fuel to the fire. Meanwhile, here is what Texas is facing: 159,000 jobs lost; more than 16,000 Air Force personnel furloughed, hurting Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio; 11,000 civilian employees at Fort Bliss, who could be furloughed in El Paso--and the biggest single threat to border security, that would be sequestration. I represent the district with the largest border--Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Presidio, Fabens. Here, Border Patrol overtime is canceled, and workers are being furloughed. If you thought the lines of the border were long before, just wait. Mr. Speaker, not having a vote this week is a decision by some in Congress for decreased border security, job loss and furloughs; and it devastates local communities and the State of Texas. ____________________”