Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I find it ironic that we are talking about government shutdowns when it is as a result of Senator Schumer's handling of this matter that we find ourselves here 2 weeks before the end of the fiscal year without having a chance to vote on appropriations bills. This is by design. This is not a bug. This is a feature of his strategy. These bipartisan appropriations bills were passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee weeks ago, and then Senator Schumer put the Senate in a 40-day recess during the month of August. Now, with the clock ticking, September 30 just right around the corner, we will start with a minibus appropriations bill next week, but we won't able to finish. We won't be able to reconcile the House and the Senate versions before the end of the fiscal year, so we will be forced to do some form of continuing resolution. You might ask, why would the majority leader of the Senate sabotage the normal, expected procedure by which the appropriations process should work? Well, one, it maximizes his power because he knows that only a handful of people will ultimately negotiate the final product, and it will disempower 98 other Members of the U.S. Senate, rank-and- file Members who will not have a chance to debate, vote, and amend various appropriations bills as they come across the floor. So this is a part of Senator Schumer's strategy.…”