"We have serious long-term deficit and debt challenges that we need to tackle."
"When the economy is struggling, government should act to make things better for the middle class and most families by investing in jobs and economic growth."
"A very specific claim in an academic paper cited frequently by many of my Republican colleagues on this committee to make the case for short-term austerity was found to be flawed."
"the case for austerity in a time of economic weakness is simply wrong."
"Right now, we are seeing how the indiscriminate and irresponsible cuts from sequestration are hurting our economy."
"History has shown us that austerity is not the right way to boost economic growth in the short term."
"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."
"If we fail to maintain these important investments, we could lose our position as a global leader in research and technology."
"Senate Democrats believe the path of austerity that long-term cuts from sequestration lead toward is not the right direction for our country."
"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."
"Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the right way to set our priorities as a nation."
"They are not using the tax increases to reduce the deficit."