Political Quotes

“While I oppose the rule, I urge support for the two appropriations measures we are considering today. Frankly, to be fair, there are many concerns that my friend, Mr. Roy from Texas, expressed that I agree with, but this is the product of real compromise. Frankly, in that compromise, each side actually reduced its spending. The spending in this bill for defense, while it is a robust $19 billion increase, is $10 billion less than the President asked for in his original budget. That was the compromise on his side. The spending on the Labor-H bill, while certainly an increase, is $11 billion less than my friends introduced in the original House bill. So there are a lot of give-and-takes in this. Frankly, as an appropriator, I would not be unhappy to see major provisions like the repeal of ACA taxes and tax extenders brought under their own legislation here. That would be better. But repealing those tax increases and extending those tax extenders are real victories for the American people and prevent massive tax increases that, frankly, bipartisan majorities have opposed in this House from the very beginning. The flaw in the ACA bill was funding it with things that even my friends on their side did not support and have not supported. They are not for the medical device tax. They are not for taxing people's insurance plans.…”