Political Quotes

“Madam President, government shutdowns, regardless of which party controls Congress or the White House, are always harmful to Federal employees and their families, who struggle to pay their bills without paychecks, to Americans who need help from closed government Agencies, and to our economy, which is damaged by the decline in consumer spending and consumer confidence. Ironically, they also always end up costing taxpayers more money than if government had been funded on time. That is why I have always worked to end shutdowns. In 2013, for example, I convened a bipartisan group, of which the Presiding Officer was the very first member, that produced the plan that led to the reopening of government after a 16-day shutdown. During the past month, I have had numerous discussions with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as well as with White House officials, on what we can do to reopen government. At the same time, I have been working to mitigate the impacts of this shutdown as much as possible for the hundreds of thousands of Federal employees and their families. These families are being unfairly and seriously harmed, and they have no idea when they will receive their next paycheck. Right around Christmas, I worked closely with the White House to ensure that the Coast Guard received pay for their work prior to the shutdown, when an anomaly in the pay system put their paychecks at risk.…”