Political Quotes

“Congress returns for the final days of this year's session facing the same conundrum: people here and back home are divided over the direction of our government; they don't agree on how to fund what a growing and aging America needs. A year ago, we were engaged in a vigorous debate on taxation. More recently, we survived the controversy surrounding the government shutdown, and we still are at loggerheads. There are strong feelings by some that now is not the time to raise taxes, yet the spending levels enshrined in the House budget cannot produce spending bills from the Appropriations Committee that can actually pass on the House floor. In some cases, they appear to not even be able to pass from subcommittee. All the while, we are looking at a sea of unmet needs and face a floundering economy. There is one area that can help break the logjam. It won't solve all of our problems certainly, but it will help us significantly along the way. Congress should address the critical needs of our Nation's infrastructure deficit. Roads, bridges, transit systems are all increasingly at risk. We are facing an inadequate state of repair, construction of new facilities are on hold, and we are losing ground in meeting our own needs, let alone the challenges of global competition. Yet this challenge is an opportunity for some potential progress. We know what to do to meet this challenge. We can write a new transportation bill that will meet today's needs; it just needs more money.…”