John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, all over the country today we should be hearing a sigh of relief. The 6-month anxiety we've been feeling…”

“Mr. Speaker, all over the country today we should be hearing a sigh of relief. The 6-month anxiety we've been feeling about possible Government shutdowns has come to an end. The bill we will vote on today will make it impossible for my Republican colleagues to shut down the Government for political reasons again, at least until October 1st. Mr. Speaker, today the Democratic position prevailed. Today we showed that it is possible to cut spending while still supporting education, the environment, and community police. Throughout this budget battle Democrats held tough. Throughout this budget battle Democrats stood up for education and the environment and now that the budget battle is over the American people are having a sigh of relief. Because thanks to the Democrats in Congress 1 million children will still be able to get extra help in math and reading. Thanks to the Democrats in Congress our clean air and clean water acts will not be gutted. And thanks to the Democrats in Congress we can still put 100,000 police on the street while not busting the budget. But even though this Republican budget game has finally come to an end it's 6 months overdue. If Republicans had worked with Democrats we could have kept the Government open.”