Political Quotes

“late last night, we received the text of the appropriations agreement to fund the remaining portions of the government through the end of this fiscal year, which is through the end of September. We were successful in doing something that we had not done in a long time previously, which was to fund 75 percent of the Federal Government, leaving 25 percent remaining. Unfortunately, the remaining 25 percent was held hostage to this unreasonable and unnecessary debate over whether we should fund border security. I say the debate was unnecessary because I thought that we all shared a conviction that it was important to secure our border. It is important to note that most of the bill that we will vote on later today has been out in the public domain for more than 6 months. It is the product of bipartisan deliberation by the Appropriations Committee and has been available to any Senator who might want to be acquainted with the details. The part that is relatively new is the detail relative to border security. I am pleased that, notwithstanding Speaker Pelosi's statement that physical barriers are somehow immoral, this does authorize and fund up to 55 miles of additional fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. I believe that border security consists of three components: physical barriers in hard-to-control locations; technology, which is important as a force multiplier; and then, of course, the boots on the ground-- the Border Patrol agents, who are absolutely essential.…”