On the recordAugust 1, 2011
We are here because we missed, as I said, a great opportunity, a chance to pass now a truly balanced agreement that relies on both spending cuts and revenue. We're not there, but I have said many times during the course of this debate that to govern is to compromise, not to sell out. Some people think on this floor that voting for a compromise is somehow a sellout. We cannot run America on that theory, and that is not what democracy is all about. I urge my colleagues to ensure that America, in fact, pays its bills.
