Political Quotes

“after spending--this is on NDAA. After spending months insisting that the Senate should take swift action on our annual Defense bill, last night, Republicans mounted a partisan filibuster, blocking this Chamber from moving forward on the NDAA. For the information of all, before the vote closed last night, I changed my vote to ``no'' and then entered a motion to reconsider the cloture vote so we could find a path forward on this important bill. Now, we have heard over and over and over again from Republicans, in some form or another, that the Senate must act on NDAA and must act quickly. One Republican colleague called it a core duty, a bare minimum. Yet another colleague said it was ``the best way to thank our soldiers and sailors for their service.'' But, last evening, Republicans blocked legislation to support our troops, support their families, keep Americans safe, and support jobs across the entire country. Republican dysfunction has again derailed even bipartisan progress on our annual defense bill--an outrageous outcome that shows how the Senate and Republican leadership have changed in recent years. Previous leaders, knowing that Democrats had offered Republicans a whole lot of amendments, would have said: ``Let's vote cloture''--but not this leader, not yet. And there should be no mistake: The process that Democrats, and particularly my colleague Chairman Reed, have offered Republicans on NDAA has been more than fair and reasonable.…”