Political Quotes

“To make the record crystal clear, not once did the people's House court a government shutdown during the appropriations process. The various subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee did their jobs. They worked collaboratively to deliver to the full House their recommendations. As Chairman Cole said more than once in the Rules Committee, these appropriators knew their subject matter better than anyone else and presented to the rest of us their best effort. Then the House did its job. We passed all 12 appropriations bills and sent them to the Senate, which had negotiated with their House counterparts and agreed to take what had been produced in the House. In doing so, we plowed a path toward regular order that was sorely overdue. Unfortunately, the Senate reneged on the agreement. The Senate did not pass what it had agreed to pass and, instead, made a change after the House completed its work. That delay on the part of the Senate caused the government to shut down. Now, what the Senate should have done was approve the six-bill appropriations package that was negotiated in good faith.”