Political Quotes

“a little earlier in the evening, we cast a vote, one that was done without a rollcall, and I want my constituents to know how I voted because, while I will put a statement in the Record, it will not appear as yeas and nays. Earlier this evening we passed a continuing resolution, and I voted no. I want my constituents to know how I voted, and I want them to know why. I indicated to my colleagues within the last 10 days that I intend to vote no on a CR because it is not the way we should be conducting business in the U.S. Senate or in the U.S. House of Representatives. Continuing resolutions mean that we are just postponing the issues we face today, and they don't get any easier the longer we wait to resolve them. They also mean that for the appropriations process, of which I am a part and have spent a significant amount of time this year, while we were successful in many, many ways, we have left seven bills without resolution. Because we couldn't resolve them, we are going to fund those Departments and Agencies at the same level of spending next year as this year. What that means is after the number of hearings we had--the witnesses who were brought in and testified, the oversight we have done onsite at Departments and Agencies and facilities across the country--we are left without that input being included in decisions. It means we are not prioritizing what spending is important. There may be a few things around here that could utilize additional resources.…”