John B. Breaux: “this is a most unusual time that we are in. There are people in Washington who are now arguing about who are essential…”

“this is a most unusual time that we are in. There are people in Washington who are now arguing about who are essential employees and who are nonessential employees. I think the people of my State of Louisiana have already made a conclusion. After seeing the Congress over the last 24 days not able to keep the Government in working order, they have decided that the Congress is nonessential; that we are incapable of governing, that we are incapable of keeping the Government working. I have been in Congress over 23 years now, and I have never been in a situation like we are in today, and it is most unfortunate. When people look to find who is to blame for this, I think there is, quite frankly, enough blame to go around for everybody. That is not going to get us out of this predicament. Deciding that it is the fault of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party is not going to solve the problem. My colleague on the Republican side, Senator Chafee, and I offered a proposal about 2 weeks ago now which was a compromise. It was significant in that it was not just two U.S. Senators but that it was 14 who signed up in a bipartisan fashion to make a recommendation that would have brought this stalemate of trying to reach a balanced budget to a conclusion. That proposal said that there would be tax cuts, but the tax cuts would be less than many Republicans would like to see.…”