Political Quotes

“I congratulate the gentleman and his party on bringing these bills to the floor early. He also says we are going to be considering a conference report. I don't obviously know what that conference report is. The budget itself, though--which of course sets the parameters for the appropriations bills in terms of caps on spending--was, as the gentleman knows, not a bipartisan bill. There were party differences on that bill. I would hope that in the conference report we can reach an agreement. My own view is, Mr. Majority Leader, that if we stay at sequester levels we will not be able to pass bills and the President will not sign them. The reason being that our side, and I think the President, perceives, and many in your party perceive at least as it relates to some aspects of the sequester, that the sequester numbers are not workable. As you know, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee has called the sequester numbers, which are reflected in the budget that passed the House, ill-conceived, unworkable, and unrealistic. In that context it will be difficult for us to get, no matter how early we start, these bills completed. I would hope that we could come together at some point in time as was done in Ryan-Murray.…”