Political Quotes

“Mr. President, thank you for recognizing me. I am honored to be, once again, on the Senate floor. I have spoken many times about the issue that is now before us for a vote in just a few minutes. This is a significant point in our country's financial history--a time in which politics has played its course and decisions have to be made. I come here at this moment with no real joy. I think we have put the American people through a lot--certainly, over the last several months--as we asked them to follow along as we discussed this idea of raising the debt ceiling. There was some thought by many of us that we could use this moment of raising the debt ceiling to make some significant changes in the way we do business in Washington, DC. In fact, on March 22 of this year, I wrote President Obama a letter indicating I could not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless I saw substantial reductions in spending and structural changes in the way we do business in the Congress and Washington, DC. Why I say there is no joy for me to be here today, in my view, we have failed to do either one. There are no substantial reductions in spending, and there are no significant changes in the way Washington, DC, does business. This country needs certainty, and I have said all along we need to raise the debt ceiling. There needs to be that certainty.…”