Hal Rogers: “We have had I think a very elevated week of debate about the entire government. This is one of those very rare occasions…”

“We have had I think a very elevated week of debate about the entire government. This is one of those very rare occasions when the Congress, for a single span of time, debates practically every element in the Federal budget. That is a very, very rare occurrence, and I think we have had a very elevated debate on both sides of the aisle. I want to commend all of the Members, Republicans and Democrats, for a good debate on a whole host of issues. We are making progress, but we have a ways yet to go. I want to thank Mr. Dicks, the ranking member of this committee, for being very, very, very helpful in moving this process along. And I have to pause, Mr. Speaker, and remind us all of how important staff is to what we do. This staff has been fantastic. We have been working with Mr. Dicks and leadership on both sides to try to find a way to make the debate concise and reasonable in time. We have reached an agreement that we want to propound to the body now which we think is fair and will give everyone an opportunity to make their presentations in due course of time.”