Tim Kaine

I think by singling out the civilian workforce for furloughs we've done a grave injustice.

I think we need to be mindful of this because we are competing for the best and brightest talent.

They have been magnificent in serving as an operational and even strategic shock absorber for us.

The need for us to provide some certainty so that you can do the best with the resources you have.

Budgetary indecision driving national security decisions, and that's very dangerous.

Perhaps the greatest risk to U.S. interests in this area is the perceived lack of U.S. commitment, particularly with regard to what happens in Afghanistan, Middle East peace, Syria.

Thank you, Admiral. I appreciate hearing that status report.

The optimal situation would be for our national security strategy to drive our budget.

The public does not have a high opinion of the Congress--so this would just be one other example of the malfunctioning of the legislative process.

I do not know of a single Democratic member of the Senate or House who has blocked us from going to a budget conference.

I do not know of a single Democratic member of the Senate or House who either wants to shut down government or is advocating or threatening a shutdown of government.

Anything that adds to the uncertain economic environment, and this would qualify, is a weight.

Regardless of the magnitude of the harm, would a government shutdown, under current circumstances, be harmful to the economy?

What we have seen recently from a minority of extreme Republicans is really deeply disappointing and harmful.

I think it adds to the uncertain economic environment and it impedes hiring, investment decisions, and it is a weight, a corrosive--I call it a corrosive on economic growth, yes.

Look, I think it is reasonable to have debates about lots of things, but the one thing we cannot debate, that is sacrosanct, is we pay our debt on time.

I really hope that Speaker Boehner and the rest of his Republican leadership will stand up to the extremists on the Tea Party minority that just seem to be committed to crisis and stop the hostage taking.

Here we are today, days away from a possible government shutdown which could affect hundreds of thousands of workers' jobs.

We are not going to repeal the Affordable Care Act, because if we did, we would be saying to all of those kids, hey, you are back at the mercy of this heartless preexisting insurance company practice that we are putting in the rearview…

The Affordable Care Act has done a number of things very positive.

Actuaries estimate the monthly premiums in New York's individual market after the health care law is in effect will still be 37 percent higher than the national average.

I hope we could all be working together right now to make sure Obamacare is implemented in the best way possible.

There has got to be a solution here.

Some of the Tea Party Republicans have stood up and blocked these bipartisan negotiations between the House and the Senate.

There is, quote, 'no discernible impact of this legislation' on aggregate health care spending trends.