Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for his comments. I want to say I have a lot of respect, as the gentleman knows and I have expressed on this floor, for Mr. Ryan. I think Mr. Ryan is a very able and dedicated and conscientious Member of this House. I have equal respect for and confidence in Senator Murray, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee. And while I'm appreciative of the fact they're having discussions, frankly, the American people need to have a transparent view of discussions that would occur in a conference committee. So not only would the chair of the House Budget Committee and the chair of the Senate Budget Committee--now, that implies, therefore, that in the Senate there are no Republicans participating in those discussions and in the House there are no Democrats participating in those discussions. In light of the fact that we have 315 million to 320 million people who are represented by both Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Leader, I think it would be very useful and would accelerate--not impede--the process of getting to an agreement so the American public could weigh in with their views as they saw a conference committee debating and discussing the alternatives between the Ryan budget and the Murray budget and, indeed, the President's budget. I've seen press reports that Mr. Ryan wants to have discussions and he wants to have parameters, but, frankly, you and I both know that if we wait to have Mr. Ryan and Ms.…”