Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from Texas has stated again what has already been talked about here a lot, and that is a piecemeal approach to funding our government. As do most Americans, we Democrats support the purpose of this bill to fund the Veterans' Administration. But there is no reason for us to have to choose between this important government function and disease control, NIH, highway safety, FBI, poor children, workplace safety, or protecting the environment. We could do all these things if the House Republican leadership would just allow the House to vote on the Senate-passed measure to end the shutdown. Everyone knows the votes are there. Our position is simple: Open the government, pay our bills, and then we will be happy to negotiate about anything. We need to end this government shutdown. First of all, my friend talks about these five families who are in bereavement, and that is an understatement. Five sons, husbands, friends were killed over the weekend. Providing the funding that my friend requests would not enable DOD to pay a death gratuity to the families of 17 servicemembers--five over the weekend. We have had others die who have given their lives to protect the Nation since the shutdown began on October 1. Seventeen. This is but one example of how the efforts of the Senator from Texas to fund the government on a piecemeal basis does not work.…”