Political Quotes

“Madam President, there are a lot of important things that we do here in the U.S. Senate, hopefully, every day; certainly, every week, month, and over the year. But there are a couple of pieces of legislation which are literally must-pass pieces of legislation. They deserve an even higher priority than our day-to-day work here. These must-pass pieces of legislation are critical to the function of our government. First, for example, government funding is critical so we can keep the lights on and keep the government working on behalf of the American people. If Congress fails to pass an appropriations bill, the government will literally shut down and millions of government workers will be left without a paycheck and the American people will be left without the services that those government employees would otherwise provide. The good news is, at this moment, there appears to be little appetite for a funding fiasco at the end of this fiscal year at the end of this month. In a couple of weeks, I expect we will vote on a stopgap funding bill to keep the lights on and the trains moving until the end of the year. Continuing resolutions like this, leading up to an end-of-the-year omnibus appropriations bill, are never my first choice. My hope would be that we would take up and pass each of the individual appropriations bills on a timely basis and then bring them across the floor of the U.S. Senate, pass them, and get them to the President for his signature.…”