Political Quotes

“Mr. President, unless something significant changes, 35 hours from now, the Federal Government will shut down. At 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, the paychecks will stop for every soldier, every sailor, every airman, every marine, every member of the Space Force, and every coastguardsman. That is not right. The good news is, we can prevent it. We can prevent it right now. The bill Senator Sullivan and I are trying to pass says that at 12:01 a.m., our Active-Duty military will be paid; that if Washington is dysfunctional, if politicians will bicker throughout the night, that is not their fault, and we are not going to hold them hostage to the partisan demands of politicians. Right now at home, there are people watching this debate on C-SPAN, and they may be wondering: When did the Senate get this dysfunctional? Did this institution ever operate? Senator Sullivan pointed to a time when it at least operated a little better than it does now. In 2013, this identical legislation was before the Senate. There was a Democrat majority. Harry Reid was the majority leader. This identical legislation passed 100 to nothing, and it passed unanimously in the House. In 2013, Senate Democrats realized: Fine, we will have a fight, but we are not holding our Active-Duty military hostage. In 2013, Senator Durbin, who is sitting on the floor, voted yes to fund our military. In 2013, Senator Whitehouse, who is sitting on the floor, voted yes to fund our military.…”