Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. Yesterday, Congress sent the President a continuing resolution, a bill to prevent a government shutdown. This was necessary to ensure that vital resources and services the American people depend on do not lapse and in order to avoid harm to jobs and our economy. But as my colleagues fully realize, simply putting government on autopilot through a continuing resolution is not the responsible way to fund government. It locks in last year's priorities, delays the start of vital new programs, and allows unneeded programs to continue to be funded. We must pass the 12 annual appropriations bills. In July of this year, the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which I am privileged to serve, reported the last of the 12 bills. This was the first time that all 12 of the appropriations bills have been approved by the committee, in plenty of time for the Senate to act, since 2009. It is past time for the Senate to take up and pass these funding bills so that we can go to conference with our House colleagues and send to the President annual funding bills that reflect our current priorities that benefit the American people. In May of this year--in May--the Senate Appropriations Committee reported the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill by a strong, bipartisan vote of 21 to 9.…”