Political Quotes

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I am a bit incredulous. I like the Senator from North Carolina. We sit across from each other in the Veterans' Affairs Committee. We have done at least 2 or 3 bills that reached the President's desk and were signed into law together. But I think my Republican friends are kind of missing the point here--to give the majority leader credit for fixing this when, No. 1, he wouldn't do it, he wouldn't do it, he wouldn't do it, he wouldn't do it. Senator Manchin has asked him for weeks and months and months to take care of the pension and the health insurance, and the majority leader refused month after month after month. The majority leader said: I need you to do several things. We need you to follow regular order. We did. We went through the Finance Committee, 18 to 8. Senator Hatch, the chairman, helped us. Senator Wyden, the ranking member, was one of the strongest supporters, joined by Senators Casey and Warner, Finance Committee members who represent a lot of mine workers. The Senate majority leader then said: You have to find a way to pay for it. We did it. We found a way to pay for it. It comes from the abandoned mine fund. There are no tax dollars involved in this. The majority leader still wouldn't do anything.…”