Political Quotes

“I know the hour is getting late. The passage of this bill is nigh, and so I will be brief, but I wish to make a few points. First, this is hardly a day of exultation and happiness. The sad truth is that we have ended just where we started. When we began several weeks ago, our goal was simple: Open the government, pay our bills, and then let's negotiate. The proposal that will be before us shortly does just that and no more. We open the government. We pay our bills. Then we can sit down and negotiate. But along the way, many people have been hurt. Millions of people didn't get paychecks. The economy has been dented, and the civility in Washington--whatever was left of it--evaporated. So to say this is a good day because one party might be doing better than another--no. It is a day that is, in a certain sense, grim. We have finally achieved our goal--the same place where we started--but at a cost. It never should have been this way. Second, I wish to salute two of our leaders. I salute our Democratic leader and my dear friend Harry Reid. From the beginning he was stalwart. He led with his strength. He said that we cannot govern in a way where any faction says: Unless we get our way, we will hurt the American people by closing down the government, by letting us default. He said: We cannot stand for that any longer. We have had enough of that in Washington, and we are not going to bend to that type of awful politics. He stood firm. He stood strong. He didn't waiver.…”