Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am pleased that the Senate is beginning debate on the fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies. This bill has been included in the appropriations package that has just now been brought before this Chamber. Let me begin my remarks by thanking Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy for their bipartisan leadership in advancing these appropriations bills to the Senate floor. Given that we have reached a 2-year, bicameral, bipartisan budget agreement in August and the new fiscal year began on October 1, it is imperative for the Senate to move these bills quickly and to go to conference with the House in order to avoid further continuing resolutions or, even worse, a government shutdown. I also want to acknowledge the hard work and strong commitment of my friend and colleague, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking member of the T-HUD Subcommittee. We have worked so closely together in drafting this bill, which includes more than 950 requests from 75 Senators. Let me repeat that. We received 950 requests from three-quarters of our colleagues for ideas for this bill, for funding levels, and in support of certain programs. We evaluated all of them very carefully and accommodated as many as we could. The T-HUD bill passed the full Appropriations Committee by a unanimous vote of 31 to 0. It reflects a truly bipartisan product.…”