Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to associate myself with the remarks of the Senator from Iowa and just say that it is long overdue that this institution gets back to regular order when it comes to processing appropriation bills. If you look at the way that you govern a country and have as much spending and debt on an annual basis as this country does, you need to do it in a way that reflects each individual bill being considered so that individual Senators--not just those on the Appropriations Committee but those in the entire Senate--have an opportunity to have their voices heard. In the last few years, we have ended up with, as the Senator from Iowa pointed out, a huge omnibus spending bill at the end of the year put together, cobbled together, by a bunch of people in a back room. That is not the way to run a government, a government of this size and scope, with as many moving parts as we have. We need the oversight that comes with the annual appropriations process, and we need the fiscal responsibility and restraint, hopefully, that comes with a regular appropriations process. So I would echo that and am pleased that the Senate Appropriations Committee has reported the bills out to the floor of the Senate. I would hope, now, that the Democratic leader will ensure that that is job No.…”