Political Quotes

“I rise to associate myself briefly with the comments of both Senators McCain and Durbin. This is not primarily about the budget. This is not primarily about Senate rules. This is about compromise. In Congress, a bicameral body, the Framers established compromise was necessary to take action. Will we allow processes to go forward so we can listen to each other, dialog, and find compromise, or will we use procedural mechanisms to block processes of dialog and compromise even from starting? The Senate budget is a very different budget than the House budget. We are all free to have our preferred option. But the way we get to a final budget is to have Senate and House conferees sit down together, in what no doubt will be a difficult discussion, and to compare budgets and debate and dialog and find compromise. The Senate acted on the 23rd of March by a majority vote in accord with the rules of this body to pass a Senate budget after 4 years. The effort to object to the beginning of a conference, make no mistake about it, is fundamentally an effort to block processes of compromise. In the living organism of government that was established by our Framers, compromise is the blood that keeps the organism alive. Efforts to block compromise are fundamentally efforts that are destructive of this institution. So I stand by the motion I have made. I ask my colleagues to allow processes of compromise to go forward. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER.…”