Political Quotes

“Here we are day three of the manufactured Republican government shutdown and Republicans still have no viable proposal to reopen the government. The Republican refusal to back off their extreme, ideological demands has taken our country down a dangerous path that is threatening to derail the Department of Veterans Affairs' progress on the claims backlog. How in the world can veterans claims be processed when their counterparts at the Department of Defense and the Social Security Administration are furloughed. These furloughed employees are essential to process veterans claims. This is another cynical ploy. Mr. Speaker, individual agencies do not operate in a vacuum, which is why we need to fund the entire government. Members of Congress are elected to make sure our government functions. Yet, some in this chamber are taking that fundamental responsibility and holding it hostage, hoping that by doing so they can be certain that people are denied health care. If my colleagues would really like to help veterans--rather than trying to score political points--they need to fund the entire federal government. As the daughter of a veteran, let us honor our veterans by reopening our government.”