Political Quotes

“I thank my very close friend from Baltimore, Maryland, for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, this bill is truly bipartisan. We have 177 cosponsors, 32 Republicans. It ensures that all Federal employees will be paid for the duration of the Federal Government shutdown. The issue is fairness. It's just wrong for the hundreds of thousands of Federal employees not to know whether they're going to be able to make their mortgage payment, not to know whether they're going to be able to provide for their families. Many of them live from paycheck to paycheck, and they're absolutely committed to paying their bills when they come due. I'm sure that this experience has been shared by many of our colleagues. They come to our offices. In fact, just 2 days ago, a woman came in and she started to kind of matter of factually explain the financial situation she had. And she just broke down sobbing. ``I don't know how I can provide for my children if I don't get my paycheck.'' It wasn't through her fault. She didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't through any kind of performance. She's a hardworking employee. She's got commendations. But we decided, because we haven't been able to fix the budget situation, that we're going to allow this government to shut down. So she's collateral damage. It's wrong--800,000 people are suffering. This would relieve their anxiety. That's why it's a simple matter of fairness, Mr. Speaker.…”