Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am delighted that the Senate is taking up four very important appropriations bills, one of them I discussed at length last week; that is, the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill, which I authored along with my ranking member, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island. In forging that bill, we gathered information from 75 of our fellow Senators, who had 950 requests. We went through each of the requests very carefully, and we have built a bill that is truly bipartisan, that reflects the priorities of this body, and that I trust will be approved as part of this package later this week. I also want to take the opportunity today, as I am managing the four bills in the unavoidable absence of the full committee chairman, Senator Shelby, to talk about some of the other appropriations bills that have been brought before us. As the Presiding Officer is well aware, the Appropriations Committee is a committee that makes a real effort to work together to put aside petty partisanship and, instead, listen to one another and work for the common good. We make an extraordinary effort to find common ground. How I wish that could be done throughout Washington today. But the Appropriations Committee remains a bastion of common sense, of collegiality, and of working together to seek common ground.…”