Political Quotes

“I first of all want to thank my colleague, the Senator from Vermont, for his comments and his relentless voicing of the concerns of folks who are not often heard in the halls of this institution. I thank him for his work and for letting everyone know who continues to be hurt by this absurd government shutdown. I really think we are almost in a kind of era of the theater of the absurd at this point. We have a government shutdown for 11-plus days and are 4 days, 5 days from a default. What I keep wondering is--we hear about some of the least fortunate who are being hurt--how much of our economy is being hurt all across the board. I received a call 2 nights ago from the chairman of a company from Northern Virginia with 5,500 employees. This company has been built by this first generation of Americans. He is extraordinarily proud of what he has done for his company, for his employees. His company serves our government as a so-called government contractor. A lot of these companies are not only in Virginia, in Maryland, but across this region and across this country. When the shutdown started, 30 percent of his 5,500 employees were told they are not essential. So the company has been trying to make ends meet keeping these folks furloughed but not firing them, trying to pay them a little something during this period.…”