Political Quotes

“I just wanted to reiterate what the chief whip has said here: that Senator Stabenow has, over and over again, against all odds, been able to negotiate a bipartisan bill. And when you look at these past bills--and you can correct me if I am wrong, Senator Stabenow--it has been, actually, majority Democrat in the Senate vote on these bills, well represented by the two Senators from Illinois, who are both in this Chamber today. But I just think the fact that you have over 100 provisions in here that are bipartisan--it is really important to note--because there is absolutely no way we can do this unless we do this together. And the other thing, while we are going to miss you dearly, as we go into next year, we know there is going to be a major debate on tax reform--which, of course, there should--that will be dominating a lot of our Senate time, and other issues. And, you know, my concern--and you can address this--is that we not let this important bill, which, as you have pointed out and Senator Durbin has pointed out, is so important for ag--and when we see the input costs, when we see the weather conditions that our farmers have been suffering through--but also important for conservation efforts, as well as nutrition for this Nation, and there is absolutely no way we are going to be able to do this unless we have those three legs in this bill, not to mention the economic development and research.…”