Political Quotes

“I rise to talk about the shutdown, as my colleague, the senior Senator from Minnesota, just did. I am grateful for her comments on what is happening to people in Minnesota, the direct adverse impact of this shutdown on their lives. We have all seen it. We have all experienced it. I will be referring to specific testimony from people who wrote me letters, but let me just highlight one experience I had the other day at a food bank in Central Pennsylvania, just miles from our State capital--a food bank that serves 27 of our 67 counties. I was talking about how this shutdown could end. The President wanted the shutdown. He got the shutdown, but he could also end it. Prior to the discussion we had, behind us, they had an entire table full of food items that the food bank and others in that region of Pennsylvania were delivering to Federal workers, especially to TSA agents, who cannot afford food because they are working but are not being paid. It is hard to comprehend that. It is hard to comprehend that so many veterans around the country are, once again, serving their country by serving in the government as they served in combat or in the military; yet they are being left out in the cold, so to speak-- sometimes literally--but are, obviously, being left out when they don't have paychecks. So this is real life. We debate bills and budgets and appropriations here in Washington.…”