Political Quotes

“The amendment before us is a start. Eighteen million dollars out of $720 billion is a start. You might take it one step forward and let's end the war in Afghanistan where we're spending $120 billion and another $30 billion or so in Iraq. Now we've got some real money to talk about. Because this is a start, I find that it's an unworthy start, and, therefore, I oppose the amendment. However, the real issue before America is not how we can slash and burn in foolish ways that actually lose tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, indeed a million jobs in the next 7 months, which is the proposal before us with this continuing resolution that the Republican Caucus has put on the floor. It seems to me that if we wanted to create jobs, we certainly wouldn't, as a first step, lose a million jobs in virtually every sector of the economy: Teachers that are providing services for the early childhood education programs, Head Start, they'll lose their jobs. Firefighters; 2,400 or more of them will lose their job across the Nation. The COPS program, which has provided jobs for police in our cities, they'll lose their jobs, some 1,300. They just had men and women from my own district come in and say, Why would they want to do that? Why would they want to take cops off the street? I told them, I don't know. I don't understand. I don't understand this CR. It is the most foolish, nonsensical slash-and-burn I have ever seen.”