Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, here we go again. Just yesterday this continuing resolution failed because of widespread concerns with the plan to offset disaster relief funding from a key Department of Energy program. One day later we're having the exact same debate. The only thing that's changed is that the Republican majority has decided this time to target two Energy Department programs instead of one. When the measure failed yesterday, House Republican leaders faced a basic decision. They could give up their efforts to hold disaster funding hostage to another partisan budget battle by removing the offset and passing the bill with a broad bipartisan majority. Or they could make the measure even more extreme in order to cater to the most radical members of their party, without concern for the fact that FEMA is just days away from running out of money, and communities around the country are waiting desperately for the support that's been promised them. Now, anybody who's been watching this Congress for the last 8 months should not be the least surprised by the majority's decision. Once again, Republicans have put partisan ideology ahead of the dire needs of the American people and are risking yet another destabilizing standoff over spending cuts in the process. So now we're debating, under a martial-law rule, a bill that is even worse than it was yesterday. It still seeks to pay for urgent disaster relief needs by taking money from a major job-creating program at the Department of Energy.…”