Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. My friends on this side say they want to keep the government open. We say we want to keep the government open. My friends on this side sent a bill over to the Senate that had $986 billion in funding. We agreed to $986 billion in funding. What's the problem? We need to open all of the government, as the gentleman from Virginia said. {time} 1730 We have a responsibility to reopen all of our government, not just a little here and a little there. House Republicans shut the government down, and now they're worried about having to answer for it. These piecemeal bills are on this floor because Republicans are realizing, yes, there are real-world consequences to a shutdown. Now they're engaged in a gimmick to fund only those pieces of government that the media or their constituents notice immediately. But by picking winners and losers, Republicans are ignoring critical agencies and functions across our Nation. We need a full reopening of government in order to provide Head Start for our children. Are Head Start children less important than somebody visiting our parks? Perhaps those are your priorities. Nutrition assistance to women and families, training for law enforcement agents who keep us safe. Seventy percent of the CIA are on furlough today-- now--right now. We need to put people back to work to ensure that our food is safe and small businesses can get the loans they need. The SPEAKER pro tempore.…”