Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise as the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. I want to say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that over the past few weeks, we Democrats have negotiated with the Republicans to come up with a responsible continuing funding resolution that keeps the government open through December 9, giving Congress time to complete an appropriations process. Our goal was to respond to compelling urgent needs: Zika, Flint, floods in Louisiana, and also our national security as well as those things that are important to the economy of the United States of America. We wanted to be sure it did not include any poison pill riders but did contain the continuing funding for veterans and military construction. Our negotiations have been cordial and productive. I compliment the other side of the aisle on their professionalism and on their civility. We are now down to a handful of issues, but they are down to the real issues. The majority leader has filed a Republican-only bill with a substitute that has now been placed before the Senate today. We Democrats cannot vote for that substitute and urge others to vote against it. We want to be sure we avoid a government shutdown and a government showdown and continue the constructive talks that we have had, but the substitute offered by the Republican majority leader falls short. What is wrong with the bill before us?…”