Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it was another installment of show-vote summer in the Senate this week. Really, the Senate is starting to feel like an arm of the DNC. I say ``show vote'' because, of course, this week's vote and the other show votes we have taken this summer had nothing at all to do with legislating. These were not attempts to pass bills; these were future campaign talking points and television commercials. Had the Democrat leader really wanted to pass legislation, I can think of a number of bills he would have brought up. But he isn't actually interested in getting anything done; he is interested--he hopes--in getting votes in November. With rare exceptions, the Senate has spent essentially the entire summer confirming Biden nominees and conducting show votes, and that is not because there hasn't been important legislation for us to take up. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The Senate has crucial legislation it should have been considering: the National Defense Authorization Act, for one thing--one of the most important pieces of legislation we consider each year--defense appropriations, veterans appropriations, all appropriations. The end of the fiscal year is almost upon us. We have 11 days left. Yet we haven't taken up a single appropriations bill on the Senate floor. And that is not because the Appropriations Committee hasn't been doing its work--again, quite the opposite.…”