Political Quotes

“I appreciate the deference of my colleague from Hawaii. I also echo the comments about friendship with our junior Senator from Alaska. This is a matter that is of deep importance to Virginia, and I rise to talk about why we are here on a Sunday in January, the second day of the shutdown of the Federal Government. When I conclude my speech, I will seek unanimous consent for the reopening of the government for 3 days as we find a path forward. We are in shutdown mode because the Republican majority did not prioritize completing a budget during the first year of the Trump administration. As the party in control of the White House, the Senate, and the House, they have a calendar set forth in law that we are supposed to follow. The President is supposed to present a budget to Congress in February. He didn't. The Houses are supposed to pass budgets in their committees in the spring. They didn't. The authorizing committees are supposed to write bills. Many of them did, but because they didn't have budget numbers to write them to, they were sort of of marginal effect. The appropriations committees are supposed to have funding bills ready and passed to start the fiscal year on October 1. The President was supposed to present a budget, and he didn't. The budget committees, controlled by Republicans, are supposed to pass a budget, and they didn't.…”