Political Quotes

“I have the opportunity to travel back to my district every day. I live close enough to home to be able to do that, and I have the chance to talk to my constituents every day and learn firsthand of the hardships that are being caused because of our failure to do our work and get our budget passed on time. I have had a chance to talk to the people at our veterans hospital, in which supplies are dangerously low, affecting the quality of health care for our veterans; where money for transportation for rehabilitation services is not available to take care of our veterans' needs. I received a telephone call from a constituent in Howard County, MD who has a FHA-insured mortgage and wants to participate in the mortgage assignment program but cannot find anyone at HUD to make that review because of the furloughs in that agency. I have talked to a small business owner who trains SSA employees, whose classrooms are closed because of our inability to fund appropriations for that agency. The small business owner is in danger of laying off many of his employees and closing his operation. This morning I had coffee with a law enforcement officer who is working without pay, whose life is on the line every day, who made some arrests yesterday. I talked to that law enforcement officer for some time. He explained to me the morale issues within his agency.”