Political Quotes

“I thank the Presiding Officer. This article points out in a very detailed and annotated way a number of times when this Congress has made policy changes, important, far- reaching policy changes, in connection with negotiations on the debt ceiling increase. So I join my friend from Ohio in saying it is absolutely incumbent on this Senate--Republicans and our friends on the Democratic side of the aisle--as well as Members of the House of Representatives and the President of the United States, our Commander in Chief, to, once again, negotiate in good faith. The President may feel we are entirely unreasonable in our position. Frankly, there have been times during my 19 years in the House and now in the Senate when I felt the Chief Executive was completely wrong in his viewpoint on how we should address our national debt. But at no time in my recollection have the parties been simply unwilling to sit down and talk at all or to have meetings in the White House and in those meetings to basically say we are not going to make counterproposals or to say publicly: Why should I offer them anything at all? I think the American people see that is an unworkable approach. So I point out to my colleagues, and I thank the Senator from Ohio in pointing out that very important fiscal decisions, very important debt- related decisions have absolutely been made in our Nation's history, and I am glad they have been made in connection with this debate on the national debt.…”