Political Quotes

“I agree with my colleague from Oklahoma. I don't think there is a single Senator in this Chamber who doesn't recognize that we have to deal with the debt and the deficit this country is facing. But the reality is that we are not going to deal with that on the 12 percent of the budget that is nondefense discretionary spending. We have to look at mandatory spending and tax reform, and we need to do it in a thoughtful way that recognizes that we need to invest in our future and make the cuts where we can do it, without harming the future of this country. Mr. President, I am really sad that we are here at the eleventh hour on the floor of the Senate looking at a probable government shutdown at midnight tonight. It didn't have to be this way. I was disappointed to read accounts of some of our colleagues in the other Chamber, on the other side of the Capitol, who were literally applauding when they were told that a government shutdown was coming. The people of my State of New Hampshire are not applauding. They don't want a shutdown because they know that a shutdown of the Federal Government is bad for the country, bad for the economy, and it is bad for the people of New Hampshire. Let me begin by going over some of what is going to happen in New Hampshire if the government shuts down. I have spoken before about companies in my home State of New Hampshire who are affected by our inability to get a budget done--companies such as Velcro USA.…”