Political Quotes

“today the Senate is debating the House- passed budget agreement which was an important step in avoiding another dangerous and costly government shutdown to our economy such as we had in October. Another shutdown caused by the Republicans would undercut the economic progress of the last 4 years. When Republicans closed the Federal Government for business in October, it cost $2 billion in lost productivity alone. The combined cost of the shutdown and the Republican threats to force catastrophic default on the Nation's bills cost the economy 120,000 private sector jobs in the first 2 weeks of October alone--120,000 jobs. But the agreement the Senate is considering today will help us avoid another costly shutdown. The bargain rolls back the painful and arbitrary cuts of sequester, including devastating cuts to education, medical research, infrastructure investments, and defense jobs. This is not a perfect bargain. No compromise is ever perfect. But the Senate should pass this agreement quickly so the Appropriations Committee, under the leadership of Chairwoman Mikulski, can begin crafting appropriations bills. It is unfortunate the Republicans have forced the Senate to run out the clock on this measure, even though it passed the House on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis and has the support of the majority in the Senate. Why are we wasting time?…”