Senator Kaine, when he was Governor, put a particular focus on pre-K.

I rely on my story, my experiences, and the experiences of people in communities across the country.

Investing in education, infrastructure, and high-value research and development to help our economy grow, keep us globally competitive, and make it easier for businesses to create jobs.

They want their government to be there when they need some support and to help make sure they have the opportunity they deserve to succeed.

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.

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.

We absolutely need to tackle our debt and deficit. We need to cut spending responsibly.

My Democratic colleagues want to tax more and spend more.

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

The families we represent are looking to us to end the constant artificial crises.

If we slash our investments in infrastructure like roads and bridges, we are not really saving money at all.

Economic research by a wide spectrum of organizations has discovered harmful economic impacts from excessive levels of Government debt.

I believe we need to focus on what is best for the middle class by ensuring that any tax reform effort helps more Americans share in and contribute to our economic strength and helps reduce our deficit.

You cannot fix a balance sheet without fixing both sides of the balance sheet.

We are the first of the three branches in the Constitution.

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.

They are not using the tax increases to reduce the deficit.

Which of you favor fixing it all on one side of the balance sheet, either all through expense reductions or all through revenue increases?

It is one of the many reasons I believe the House budget is wrong for our country and our economy.

The Senate wants to go into a budget conference, to sit down at a conference table.

History has shown us that austerity is not the right way to boost economic growth in the short term.

I think the mixture usually does not work because one of the forces that are at play is--

I think the testimony of the witnesses... sheds some light on one of the challenges... that we are having about trying to get the Senate budget into conference with the House.

Current and future seniors, who have worked hard all their lives, deserve to know that Medicare will be there when they need it.

We all know sequestration was never intended to be implemented, so we should be focused on replacing it, not trying to make an unworkable policy just a bit less bad.