Political Quotes

“I would say to my colleague from Illinois that, indeed, these are key milestones where the journey is to restore the functionality of this Senate so it can take on the significant issues Americans expect us to take on. The path forward is not yet one without obstruction. We have these two important milestones--one of going forward on immigration, a second of going forward in terms of putting a functioning Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fully together. We have had some other recent moments that fit this pattern, including passing the farm bill out of this Chamber for the second time, passing a Water Resources Development Act that would fund enormous amounts of infrastructure across this country to help provide both water supply infrastructure and wastewater treatment infrastructure. These are good moments. But we also are reminded that the path is not completely clear. For example, at this moment we should be in the middle of a conference committee on the budget. The Senate passed a budget and the House has passed a budget, but the conference committee is being filibustered by this Chamber. That is evidence of the model we are trying to break that is unexplainable to the American people. Folks back home want to know why we can't get a bill on the floor of the Senate to address the sequester. Because fewer kids are getting into Head Start, fewer kids are getting their inoculations, title I schools are not getting their funding.…”