Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, it is hard to respond to that last speech. A bill came from the Senate unanimously, Republicans and Democrats, that would have opened the government. We would have voted for that bill, all of us, but after not moving on Department of Homeland Security for 11-2/3 of a year, the then-majority party added into that bill a piece of legislation they knew would not pass in the United States Senate. Democrats would not be for it. The gentleman is correct. The gentleman knew they wouldn't be for it, and the gentleman knew they couldn't get 60 votes. Notwithstanding that, they passed a piece of legislation that directly resulted in the shutdown of government. I say that those are the facts. As a matter of fact, we thought the President of the United States agreed with that bill, but somehow, in the some 900 feet of there to here, he changed his mind. Maybe he talked to Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity. I don't know who the operative adviser was, but he changed his mind. As a result, we had the longest shutdown in history. The CBO says it cost at least $11 billion. The economic adviser at the White House said that it was costing at least one-tenth of a point a week. This resolution says: Shutdown is stupid. I am sure some don't agree with that, because I have been in this Chamber when you have voted to keep the government shut down. And you don't like me saying that.…”