Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the Senate has completed its consideration of this appropriations measure, which provides essential funding for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, related agencies, military construction programs, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to combat Zika. I thank all of my colleagues for working together with us in an open and collaborative manner. I would note that the legislation we just passed incorporates some 40 amendments. There were also recommendations from more than 75 Senators from both sides of the aisle included in the Transportation-HUD appropriations portion of this bill which were incorporated at the committee level. I thank all of my colleagues for giving us their suggestions, their requests, and their insights. It made for a better bill. As I mentioned, I am particularly grateful to Senator Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Transportation-HUD Subcommittee, for his work. I also thank the staff for their diligence and commitment throughout this process. As Senator Reed mentioned, we worked extremely hard, but our staff worked even harder. So I thank Heideh Shahmoradi, Rajat Mathur, Jason Woolwine, Lydia Collins, Gus Maples, Dabney Hegg, Nathan Robinson, Christina Monroe, Jordan Stone, and Mike Clarke on the subcommittee staff. I also give special thanks to the floor and cloakroom staffs who worked so hard.…”