Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this week marks the continuation of a bipartisan effort to actually do the work we were elected to do. The New York Times recently published an article that said the Senate got its groove back. I don't know if I would go that far, but certainly we are making some progress when it comes to these important funding bills. These two appropriation bills are two of the largest ones in the Federal Government. One, of course, is for the Department of Defense which, appropriately, is the No. 1 priority of the Federal Government-- to maintain the peace and keep our Nation safe. The other funds the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. After we pass these bills this week, which we will, we will have passed 9 of the 12 appropriations bills, which cover 87 percent of discretionary spending. I might add that when I mention discretionary spending, it is noteworthy that about 70 percent of what the Federal Government spends is not discretionary spending. It is mandatory spending, which is another story in and of itself. But insofar as the Congress's responsibility to appropriate the funds in discretionary spending, we will have covered about 87 percent of that. I want to express my gratitude again to Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy for their efforts in facilitating such a relatively smooth process on all of our appropriations bills so far.…”