Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the appropriations process demands that Republicans and Democrats work together. If one party decides to go it alone, it can wreck the spirit of bipartisanship necessary to responsibly fund the government. Unfortunately, Republicans elected to depart from a bipartisan path early in the appropriations process this year. We had a bipartisan deal on the budget caps--the 302(a), the defense- nondefense side. We were working on allocations to the 12 subcommittees when the Republicans decided, without consulting any Democrat, to divert funds from medical research, opioid treatment, and our military and their families so they could appease the President's wish to spend up to $12 billion extra for a border wall--a wall, by the way, that the President promised Mexico would pay for. Leader McConnell and Chairman Shelby knew it would not fly with Democrats, and this ruse--this stunt, as the Republican leader is fond of calling things that can't pass--puts the entire appropriations process in jeopardy. Somehow, in the wake of all of this, the Republican leader has been accusing Democrats of threatening to block military funding. That is an absurd statement, if there ever was one. We are simply trying to stop Republicans from stealing the money from our military and putting it into the wall, which he said Mexico would pay for. The outcome of the upcoming vote to proceed to defense approps is not in doubt.…”