Political Quotes

“constituents of mine are hearing today that there is a looming government shutdown--Friday at midnight; that if Congress hasn't passed a spending bill, it is possible the government could shut down. That would be a big mistake. Government shutdowns do not make sense. We have legislation called End Government Shutdowns, by the way, which says that when Congress doesn't do their appropriations bills on time--which is never or rarely--that there should not be a shutdown; rather, continue the spending from the previous year, but ratchet it down over time to give the Appropriations Committee and Congress and the Senate an incentive to get the job done. But let's not shut down the government. When we do that, it doesn't help anybody. It doesn't help us as taxpayers because we end up coming back and paying people, and the inefficiencies of it create more costs. So I hope we are not even talking about that. In the so-called continuing resolution, which is a short-term spending bill--which, again, is not the best way to govern, but that is what our choice is--in that continuing resolution to keep the government from shutting down, there is also, as I understand it, going to be something that is very good for our country.…”