Political Quotes

“I come to the floor this afternoon to talk a bit about developments that involve our Nation, Iran, and the other five nations that joined us in negotiating the joint agreement. And we are encouraged that it will reduce--maybe substantially--the likelihood that Iran will build a nuclear weapon in the near future or even a good deal beyond that. I came to the floor to talk about that subject, but after hearing the previous speaker, I felt compelled to say a few things. I am a recovering Governor. I was the Governor of Delaware for 8 years, and we balanced our budget 8 years in a row, cut taxes. I have been told that more jobs were created during those 8 years than at any other time in Delaware history. I chaired the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. We worked closely with GAO. We actually worked very closely with the Bowles-Simpson folks about 5 or 6 years ago. They came up with three ideas for deficit reduction and to make sure that we do it for the long haul. The Bowles-Simpson Commission was formed at a time when deficit was $1.4 trillion. For those who are following it, the deficit is still too high, but it has been reduced by more than two-thirds--I think it may have even been close to three-quarters--and that is good. There are things we need to do for further deficit reduction. No. 1, we need to really consider what we do with our entitlement programs.…”