Political Quotes

“I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I could certainly discuss how the House has passed two appropriations bills this year--the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill and the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, while the Senate has not passed a single appropriations measure. Last year, the House passed all of the appropriations measures. I could certainly also discuss how, in the 12 years that the Republicans controlled the House, there were a number of years when not a single regular appropriations measure was enacted by October 1--in 1996, in 2002, and in 2003. In fact, in those 12 years, CRs were enacted 84 times. Again, Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of the season, in the spirit of charity, and in the spirit of our colleagues' desire to complete their work in this body, I will simply say that it is critical for the basic functions of government to continue over the next 5 days, particularly during this travel season. Where would we be on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year if we cut off funding for our air marshals, which the failure of this bill would ensue? Just yesterday, I was proud that this body passed and sent to the President a bill to keep taxes low for all Americans. I supported this bill, along with 139 of my Democratic colleagues and 138 of my Republican colleagues. In voicing their support for the legislation, many of our friends on both sides of the aisle cited the need for certainty and stability. Well, Mr.…”