Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Murray, Senator Harris, and my colleagues who are on the floor. I point out that we are now on day 26 of this outrageous and dangerous partial shutdown that was totally avoidable. It has been caused by one person--President Trump--and is now being assisted by the Republican leadership in this body by its not allowing the U.S. Senate, which is a coequal branch of government, to take up legislation that would reopen government--legislation that has previously passed this body and would, clearly, pass on a vote if the majority leader would allow us to have that vote. We could then reopen the government. The unanimous consent request that I offered yesterday with my colleague from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen, would allow the appropriations bills that have nothing to do with this current dispute with the President to be fully functional, and it would allow for a continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security. We could then work, as we should work, to deal with border security and immigration issues. Yet the majority leader objected to the Senate's taking up that legislation, and the shutdown continues. There are 800,000-plus citizens who work for the Federal Government who are being denied the ability to either get paychecks for the work that they do or are being furloughed without pay. In each one of those cases, there is a hardship that is having an impact that goes well beyond just the 800,000.…”