Political Quotes

“first of all, I want to thank my colleague the Senator from Connecticut for giving me a chance to very briefly-- less than 1 minute--add my voice as well. I echo what my friend the Senator from Vermont has said. I want to commend the leadership of my friends the Senators from Maryland, Mr. Cardin and Mr. Van Hollen. The Commonwealth of Virginia is experiencing the same kinds of challenges and crisis that Maryland is. We have a disproportionate number of Federal employees, and I think we underestimate what is going to happen when these employees don't get their paychecks on Friday--that coming on top of countless number of contractors. I have small business contractors who have had to shut down their business because they can't make the payroll. Even reopening the government will not mean those businesses will come back into operation. I simply wanted--I am sorry the majority leader is not here. The majority leader keeps saying, you know, that we are powerless in this body to do anything, that the only way we can pass any legislation is if the President agrees. I do not want to overstate the case, but I would simply refer the majority leader to article I, section 7, clause 2 of our Constitution, which gives this body, if it reaches a two-thirds vote, the ability to override a Presidential veto and make the legislation, which has already passed this body by a 96 to 2 vote.…”