Political Quotes

“Mr. President, just a quick observation or two about what my colleagues from New Hampshire and Connecticut were just speaking to, and that is the issue of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. I intend to talk about another subject, but as I was listening to their dialogue on that subject, there were a couple of things that I thought were important to respond to. They had indicated that there is a bill offered by Senator Menendez on their side of the aisle that they thought would get 90-plus votes here in the U.S. Senate. I would say to my colleagues on the Democratic side that Senator Cruz, as he was advocating for a vote on his amendment, offered that up. He offered up a vote on Menendez and a vote on his amendment to Menendez, and that was turned down by the Democrat leadership. So that was put forward as an offer by the Senator from Texas, Senator Cruz. Just to also make the point--this isn't something that is a new issue for him. He has been advocating on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline for years. In fact, there were sanctions put in place under the previous administration, which I think had been quite effective. With respect to holding State Department nominees, sometimes around here, you have to get people's attention in order to get a vote on something. I mean, he didn't have to hold nominees in the last administration because they allowed for a vote. In this administration, that has not been the case. He has been trying for literally weeks and months.…”