Political Quotes

“I thank my friend from Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit because I think it is important we remember President Trump has always wanted a shutdown. He boasted a year and a half ago that what the government needs is a good government shutdown. There is no such thing, as we now know. On December 11--not ancient history--he sat in the Oval Office, getting red in the face, shouting: ``I will be the one to shut it down.'' He then followed through on that promise by torpedoing a government funding agreement that passed the Senate with unanimous support. Once again, Federal employees and Federal contracts were being held hostage by this President, all because of a broken campaign promise. He said Mexico was going to pay for his wall. Now he needs a bailout from the American taxpayer. Fortunately, the new Democratic majority in this House is going to stand up to this President and has offered a sensible plan to fund the government. The bill that passed in the Senate is part of a four-bill package and, by a vote of 92-6, provides a 1.9 percent badly needed pay increase for all Federal employees and guarantees backpay to the Federal employees furloughed during this unnecessary Trump shutdown. I support the underlying bill because we can and should end this Trump shutdown now.”