Political Quotes

“We could take care of those very quickly. There are amendments that, in the minds of the managers, improve the bill. We should get those done. We are unable to move on anything. The calendar dictates a lot of what happens here in Washington in Congress. We have a limited amount of time. We have 3 very short weeks when we come back after Thanksgiving before Christmas. I say to my friends, we are not going to have time to work on the farm bill when we come back after Christmas. We don't have time. We have to take care of all of our appropriations matters. The funding for this Government runs out on December 14. We have some must-do things that run out at the end of this year. So the record should be spread with the fact that Senate Democrats have been willing and terribly interested in moving this farm bill. If it doesn't go forward, the blame is at the doorstep of my Republican colleagues. We are in the majority. We Democrats are in the majority, but it is a slim majority. The way the Senate operates, the Republicans can stop us from doing a lot--not everything but a lot. But I would bet, if there were a fair vote and not some arm-flexing exercise, that a vast majority of Democrats and Republicans want this farm bill to move forward.”