Political Quotes

“Mr. President, shortly, the Senate will consider the debt ceiling package that passed the House last night by a strong vote. I commend the Speaker for his hard work and his negotiations to prevent what would be a disastrous default, with catastrophic consequences for our economy, for the people who rely on important government programs, and for America's standing in the world. Nevertheless, there are two issues in this package that are very problematic. The first, as you have heard from my colleagues, is the completely inadequate top-line number for our national defense. The second is a harmful provision that would go into effect if any 1 of the 12 appropriations bills has not been signed into law. It would trigger an automatic, meat-ax, indiscriminate, across-the-board cut in our already inadequate defense budget and in the domestic discretionary nondefense funding. This would happen automatically if, in fact, all 12 appropriations bills have not been passed. Now let me address both of those issues and offer to my colleagues what I believe are solutions. The first is the inadequacy of the defense budget. As my colleagues have very well described, the defense budget submitted by President Biden and included as the top line in this package is insufficient to the task of fully implementing the national defense strategy at a time when we face serious and growing threats around the world.…”