Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in about an hour, we are going to vote on a package that was sent to this body by the House of Representatives. Let me first comment on the context within which we consider this legislation. I think it is very important to remind our colleagues and remind citizens across the country who are perhaps watching and listening that our country is borrowing more than 40 cents of every $1 we spend. That is unsustainable. It cannot be continued for long. I think all of us know that the circumstance we are in is extraordinarily serious. Here is what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told us just a year ago: Our national debt is our biggest national security threat. I believe that is the case. Our gross debt now is approaching 100 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States. We have not seen a debt that high since after World War II. It is extraordinarily important that we take on this debt threat. It is extraordinarily important for our country's future economic well-being that we change course. The legislation that has been sent to us by the House is one of the most ill-considered, ill-conceived, internally inconsistent pieces of legislation I have seen in my 25 years in the U.S. Senate. It has all the earmarks of something that was hastily thrown together, really pasted together. This legislation includes an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. We are better than this. The Congress is better than this.…”