Political Quotes

“yesterday Chairman Hatch and I began managing this legislation on the floor of this distinguished body. It seems to me that speaking for more than a couple of minutes at this point would just be excessive, but I think I want to summarize what the central question is at this late hour. It would be fair to say that we have spirited debates in the Senate, and fiscal battles that play out in this Chamber take place at virtually every new cycle and certainly with every election. That is as it should be. That ensures that we have vigorous debate about important issues the Founding Fathers wanted this Senate to be part of. But that must never endanger the sterling economic reputation our country has built over the generations, and passing this legislation, in my view, helps to preserve that reputation. With this bipartisan legislation, it is possible to avert a catastrophic default and a mindless sequester, which would give an opportunity that the President, the Senate, and I care a great deal about, and that would be the opportunity to come up with smart, effective, targeted reforms, such as fixing the broken system of fighting wildfires in our country. That system is broken today. With this legislation and the opportunity to bring a bit more flexibility to the cause of reforming our government, there will be an opportunity on a bipartisan basis to fix that broken policy which has consumed, literally and figuratively, so much of our land in the West.…”