Political Quotes

“First of all, I am so excited with the chairman and ranking member of the Appropriations Committee. I have to say, since I have been in the Senate, I have found these two individuals more than capable to work with and more than willing to work with me and I wish to congratulate them on bringing their bill to the floor. I have to very adamantly disagree because I think the chairman of the committee has missed my point. Every American family over the last 5 years has been making tough decisions about priorities. By not hiring some of what most Americans--a wall can get painted 6 months later. It doesn't have to be painted today. As a matter of fact, if we go over to all the Senate and House office buildings, we see the Architect of the Capitol repainting all the walls, with wet signs out there, while we can't let the visitors into our buildings. There is something wrong with us in the way we are managing. We are painting walls that don't have to be painted at the same time we make citizens wait in line for an hour and a half to get into our buildings. It is about priorities. The fact is, if we don't fill some of these superfluous positions that are not absolutely necessary right now, many Federal employees will not get furloughed. That is the point I am making. I can't believe we have to have a research librarian right now at the Air Force at a time when we don't have the money to put our pilots in the air to keep them trained. So we are not talking about essential employees.…”