Political Quotes

“as Senators know, there is time for debate of the conference report, for Senators to come over and speak, if they so choose, about the provisions of this bill and the effort we have made to meet the challenge the President has laid before us, and that is to produce a bill that provides funding for support for our troops and other officials from the State Department and other agencies who are engaged in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the global war on terror. The majority of the money provided in this legislation is for those purposes. I am pleased the committee was able to restrain the temptation that always exists to add money that was over and above the request made by the President. The fact of the matter is that this committee showed discipline and commitment to fiscal restraint. We brought a bill back in the initial stages of this process that was below the request made by the President and that was below the request provided in the House- passed bill. Our Senate Appropriations Committee reported legislation providing funding that was lower than either one of those documents. In conference with the House, we did resolve differences. There was give and take. Both sides had their opportunity to speak. We met on two separate occasions with our Senate conferees, joining representatives from the House in a wide range of discussion. Nobody was cut off when they wanted to discuss the issues or offer alternatives to provisions of the House-passed bill.…”