Political Quotes

“Let me thank the gentleman for yielding and also thank our chairman and ranking member and subcommittee chairs, really, for bringing together a bipartisan bill to the floor. But I cannot support the bill because, once again, poor and low-income communities are taking the brunt of the terrible cuts. While there are good provisions in this bill, what we have, however, is a bill loaded with special interest, Tea Party Republican riders at the expense of low-income people, especially women of color, right here in Washington, D.C. Cutting off low-income women in Washington, D.C. from access to the same health and reproductive services available throughout the country is really not critical to preventing a shutdown. Forcing the continuation of abstinence-only sex education that fails to meet the needs of young people, that's not critical to preventing the government shutdown. Increasing the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through dirty needles is not critical to preventing a government shutdown. Finally, let me just say this bill continues to fund over $2 billion a week, mind you, $2 billion a week on a war without end in Afghanistan. We must allow the Afghan people to control their own destiny and immediately begin to pull our great young men and women in uniform out of harm's way.”