David Thomas: “I rise also to talk about the dilemma that we are in. I agree with the Senator from Vermont and the Senator from…”

“I rise also to talk about the dilemma that we are in. I agree with the Senator from Vermont and the Senator from Maryland that we ought not to be where we are. I believe it is time that we come to an agreement on the balanced budget. If you really want to come to a solution, you could have come to a solution by now--all of us. If you want to find a solution, you can find a solution. You cannot just continue to talk and say we have had useful conversations and walk away, having made no decisions. That is not a way. I have a little different view, however, of some of the reasons that we are here than the Senator from Maryland. The President could have signed the appropriations bills. He could have had those people back to work. He chose not to do that. We started on November 14, I believe, with an agreement to find a balanced budget in 7 years, using CBO numbers. And that was not done. On the part of the administration, nor indeed the other side of the aisle, a process to do that was not forthcoming. So, I think we should not be where we are. I have been here since Thursday, hoping the leadership would come forward and say, ``Here is a way to put people back to work.'' I have been here each of those days to do that. We have had objections from the other side of the aisle not to do that. ``We do not want to do that.'' So that is where we are, and we ought to change that.”