Political Quotes

“for all of these amendments that are pending, there is no requirement that we have to have rollcall votes. Everyone should understand that. Mr. President, tonight the Senate will vote on a bill introduced by my friend, the Republican leader. While I have great respect for my friend, the senior Senator from Kentucky, I believe in this case he is playing political games. The Republican leader has inserted a poison pill for Democrats into his proposal. To offset the $11 billion cost of his legislation, the Republican leader proposes we slash $30 billion in programs that help the middle class and get our economy back on track. What is more, this is a backdoor violation of the debt ceiling agreement we reached after months of negotiation this summer. This is not a serious attempt to repeal the rule requiring the government to withhold 3 percent from all government contractors. It is an attempt to circumvent the rules. And even if we passed the Republican leader's bill tonight, the House will not act on it. Revenue bills like this one must originate in the House, a prerogative that body guards jealously. So our action on this bill this evening is nothing more than a misdirected stunt by Republican leadership. But let me be clear: this provision will be repealed before it takes effect.…”