Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I want to thank first the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. There is not a person who has stood truer to principle…”

“I want to thank first the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. There is not a person who has stood truer to principle than the majority leader on all of the issues in this emergency appropriations. He was prepared at all times to make sure that disaster victims were able to get the money that they needed in absolute due course. He was prepared to make sure that all of the money in the defense accounts would go in. He also was standing on a principle to set the process in place so that at the end of this fiscal year the people who work for the U.S. Government, the people who look to the U.S. Government for services such as passports and all of the other Government services, and the people such as veterans who have earned pensions would know that there would not be a disruption in Government. I think there has been a lot of rhetoric that has blurred the facts on these issues. In fact, there was never a question of the actual amount that would go to the flood victims of North Dakota. They have been getting the millions of dollars that they need to start the process of rebuilding their State.”