Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise in reluctant support of another short-term CR because I am absolutely against a government shutdown. But enough is enough. We are 6 months into the fiscal year and no closer to having a budget than the day we started. The American people want a budget that is frugal, on their side and brings stability to their lives. Both parties must come together and agree to sensible budget cuts for remainder of this year. But cuts are not a strategy to reduce the deficit. Cuts are a tool, not a strategy. We must also tackle the items that are responsible for adding to our deficit. We cannot continue a cycle of cutting $2 billion every 2 weeks. That is no way to govern. Even though many of the cuts in the new CR are cuts that I agree with, short-term CRs are a government shutdown by proxy. I don't want a government shutdown. I am fighting to prevent it. But we cannot fund the government with two to three week payments. It is bad for Federal workers, contractors, families and the economy. Senate Democrats have initiated cuts. First we cut $41 billion from the President's budget request. Then we offered to cut another $10 billion for a total of $51 billion in cuts. But our offer was rejected. Republicans want to cut $100 billion. We met them halfway. But that wasn't good enough. Whether we cut $100 billion at once or several billion at a time in short term CRs, this is not a strategy to reduce the deficit and will hurt middle class families. I am for cuts.…”