Political Quotes

“tonight I wish to talk about our responsibility in the U.S. Senate to reopen the government, to get back to work solving real problems, and to fix the system around here so we aren't tempted to play political games with government shutdowns in the future. We are now in the second day of what I think is kind of a senseless shutdown. It is not helping anybody. There is a lot of disruption, dislocation, and dysfunction for no reason. It is a situation which was perhaps best described by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in 2013 when he said: ``I believe in immigration reform. What if I persuaded my caucus to say I'm going to shut the government down, I'm not going to pay our bills unless I get my way. It's politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.'' I think Chuck Schumer was right. I think the lesson of 2013 in that shutdown is, they don't work. I think they are a bad idea. They are unnecessary disruptions. They hurt our economy. They hurt families. They hurt our troops. By the way, they ultimately also cost the taxpayers more money, not less. That has been the history. That is why, for 6 years now, I have been fighting to pass legislation called the End Government Shutdowns Act. It is a very simple piece of legislation. By the way, my efforts in that have spanned Presidents of both parties and majorities in the Senate of both parties. It is not a political issue. We should end government shutdowns.…”