Political Quotes

“Mr. President, sometimes I feel like our Democratic colleagues will not take yes for an answer. As the distinguished Senator from Washington knows, we have passed a $1.1 billion appropriation to combat the Zika virus. It is something we all agree on, on a bipartisan basis. What the Senator from Washington objects to is the fact that it happens to be attached to another appropriations bill, but the process is that now gets reconciled with the bill passed by the House and then sent to the President. The good news is, there is already $580 million in unexpended Ebola funds that can be used as a downpayment to deal with the Zika virus. The Presiding Officer and I have come from States where the mosquito which carries the Zika virus is present. We all appreciate the seriousness of this, and we are determined to act on a bipartisan basis. The Senator from Washington knows that, but that doesn't stop her and her colleagues from coming to the floor and making demands that we do this instantaneously. Mr. President, to give you a sense of what is going on, we have been trying to get our Democratic colleagues to allow us to pass the Defense authorization bill all week. What we have been told is, no, they need more time to review it. Every Democrat in the Armed Services Committee voted for the Defense authorization bill. It has been posted online for some time now. Anybody who cares about what is in the bill has had plenty of time to read it.…”