Political Quotes

“Madam President, the Senate is obviously back from the Thanksgiving recess, and I know we all enjoyed a little bit of time at home with our friends and families, but here we are, back with 18 days until the funding for the Federal Government runs out, and we certainly have our work cut out for us. Of course, I expect this sort of drama to end next year when we have new management, both in a new President as well as in the Senate and House majorities, because, frankly, the way that the majority leader here in the Senate has managed to cram all of this unfinished business into the last 18 days is by design, and it does not serve the best interests either of the Senate or of the American people. This cannot be and will not be the new normal. Before we recess for Christmas, we must extend the farm bill, and you have just heard from the ranking member and soon-to-be chairman of the Agriculture Committee on that issue; we need to pass a National Defense Authorization Act bill--something we have done 63 years in a row; and, as I mentioned a moment ago, we need to keep the lights on, as the U.S. Government runs out of money in 18 days. All of these are entirely preventable, and we find ourselves in this uncomfortable and embarrassing situation purely by design. Starting with the farm bill, unfortunately, the partisan proposal released last month by the chair of the Agriculture Committee last month is not what we need in a new farm bill.…”