Political Quotes

“We are in day five of the Republican shutdown, without an end in sight. Let's be clear that this is a manufactured crisis designed to promote ideology at the expense of needs of our constituents, the American people. Today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. I am an original cosponsor of this vital piece of legislation to ensure furloughed federal employees receive back pay for the duration of the government shutdown, regardless of their work status. I would like to thank my Virginia colleagues, Representatives Moran and Wolf, for their leadership on this issue and I am proud to be a part of the bipartisan Washington-area delegation that drafted and introduced this bill that will provide some certainty to federal workers and their families. Roughly 800,000 federal workers across the country, who work hard to make our nation a safer and better place to live, will lose their pay because they have been furloughed as a result of the government shutdown unless Congress and the President enact legislation to ensure their pay. Under this legislation, federal workers would get retroactive pay, regardless of their furlough status, once the government is funded. Federal workers should not be held responsible for Congress' inability to pass a budget. Yet, it is the American people, including millions of federal workers, and the U.S. economy who will pay the price.…”