Political Quotes

“later today the Senate is likely to consider legislation that would reopen government, avert the default, and put us on a long-term path to come up with a plan to deal with our unsustainable $17 trillion national debt by reopening the long overdue budget negotiations. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support the plan that has been put forth by our two leaders, Senator Reid and Senator McConnell. I am pleased that elements of the compromise that the two leaders have worked out have been taken from a plan that was developed by 14 Senators who have worked very hard, on both sides of the aisle, 7 Democrats--actually 6 Democrats and 1 Independent, the Senator from Maine--and 7 Republicans, who have come together in good faith and have worked very hard over the last 2 weeks to put together a compromise plan, a compromise plan that I have to say I actually prefer to that which we will vote on later today. But elements of our plan have been incorporated into the plan the two leaders have presented for our consideration. This was truly a collaborative effort. I want to make sure that all of my colleagues who worked so hard on it receive the kudos they deserve for being willing to do what this body does too rarely, and that is for both sides to get together, come out of our partisan corners, stop fighting, and start legislating. This great country deserves a Congress that can govern, and that was the unifying theme of our group.…”