Political Quotes

“it is the position of the Democrats--and some Republicans have taken this position--that this is not the right way to go about funding disasters, by requiring offsets. It is not necessary, it has hardly been done in the past--it has been, but it is not routine--and it is not recommended for a number of reasons I have tried to explain on the floor. But adding to that debate now is the Chamber of Commerce saying that is not the right offset to use if you are going to insist on finding one. Secondly, I want to push back on the argument the House position will provide enough funding to get us through the next couple of weeks. That is only partially correct, and I want to be very clear. When people say, well, we can go ahead and pass the 2.65 they have in for 2012, which is an extension of last year's number, and then the extra billion they put in for 2011, and that will sort of get us by the next couple of weeks, let me be clear: It will get FEMA by. It will fill up the disaster relief fund, which is running on fumes today. We are now down to $227 million in the fund, the lowest balance in recent memory. It will provide a small amount of money relative to the core budget--$226 million.…”