Political Quotes

“I do think that, as Congress rushes to complete its work, it is an appropriate time to evaluate the true record of this Congress. Mr. Speaker, I would speak about, in particular, three shortcomings of this Congress. The first is the shutdown, the second is student loans, and the bulk of my time is going to be spent talking about a near miss, a raid on workers' pension security. On the shutdown, this new crowd, the 104th Congress, the Republican majority, said they wanted to run government like a business. Yet, when they got in a fight with the President, they felt shutting down the government was the appropriate response; leaving the workers home, only to be paid for every day they stayed at home, with the subsequent enactment of the appropriations bills. It occurred to me, as I evaluated that ridiculous stunt, that there is not a single business in North Dakota that gets so mad at itself that it sends its workers home on salary, but that is precisely what this crowd did to the Federal Government, disrupting service, costing taxpayers millions, and what is more, making a total debacle of the legislative appropriations process.”