John Cornyn: “I had a chance to listen to our friend, the Democratic leader, and it is becoming clearer exactly what his strategy is…”

“I had a chance to listen to our friend, the Democratic leader, and it is becoming clearer exactly what his strategy is for dealing with the aftermath of the November 8 election, in which Republicans retained the majority in both Houses of Congress and picked up the White House to boot. I realize it was a shock to our Democratic friends--the election that occurred on November 8 and the verdict of the American people, given the choices they were presented. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the Democratic leader, the Senator from New York, believes that Democrats and the country are better served by being an opposition party--in other words, opposed to everything that is proposed by either the President or anybody on this side of the aisle. Rather than working together with us to try to build consensus, to try to address the challenges that face the country, what they are going to do is to sit back and enjoy the failure--which is what they are hoping and praying for--when we try to do this alone. We know our system is built on bipartisan cooperation and consensus building, and I have to tell my friend, the Senator from New York, Mr. Schumer, that I doubt his party's political prospects are going to improve as long as people see them as a restoration of the status quo at a time when they voted for change.…”