Political Quotes

“I, of course, admire--and have for many years now--the chairman of the Budget Committee. She is a renowned Senator. She is very good at what she does. We are very proud of her. We have just heard something that is unusual. We heard my friend from Arizona--the Senator and I came together to Congress some 30-odd years ago--and another outstanding Senator, Ms. Collins from Maine, come up with a novel idea. It is kind of old-fashioned, but it is called regular order. What they are saying we should do is go to conference. We have had in years past many motions to instruct. That is the way we used to do things around here. To get off-base on a debt ceiling matter has nothing to do with what we are doing. Let's go to conference. I don't know if when we go to conference we will get anything out of it, but we are sure going to try. That is what this is all about. I can't imagine why after 2 months-- after 2 months--we can't go to conference and work something out. The Republican leader has told me for a couple of years: Why don't we do our appropriations bills? We have the former chair of the Appropriations Committee, who is now the ranking member on the Agriculture Committee, he knows as much as anyone here about financial matters. He is a man who is a humble man, doesn't talk a lot--and I don't want to speak for him--but I think everyone here wants this institution to continue, wants us to do regular order. I have heard this hue and cry for quite some time on the other side.…”