Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 79, which is my resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that government shutdowns are detrimental to the Nation and should not occur. Mr. Speaker, between December 22 and January 25, more than 800,000 Federal workers went without pay because of the Trump shutdown. Saying that shutdowns harm the American people and the economy should not be controversial. These facts are not up for debate, or at least they shouldn't be. But yesterday, members of the Freedom Caucus basically tried to shut down the House of Representatives because they objected to a sentence in the resolution that said the President shut down the government to achieve a legislative end. Now, he did. We all saw him say it on television, and we have seen it many, many times since then. But I am a brand-new legislator, and I am all about getting to ``yes'' and finding consensus, so the offending clause has been removed from this resolution and should not be a problem anymore. For 35 days, our workers were forced to go without a paycheck. That is two pay periods that workers had to make difficult financial decisions for themselves and for their families. Essential services were halted; national parks were shuttered; and our national security was compromised during this time. TSA screeners and air traffic controllers were forced to work without pay.…”