Political Quotes

“I wanted to touch on a few topics relating to the shutdown, which is now in its 39th day and doing very serious harm to Federal workers here in Washington and Vermont and all over this country, and it is a shutdown that should be ended as soon as possible. The reason for this shutdown really is not complicated. Here in the Senate, we have a 60-vote threshold in order to pass a budget that keeps the government open. You need 60 votes, and that has been the case for a very, very long time. What has always happened is that if the majority party--in this case, the Republican Party--does not have the 60 votes, which is usually the case, they have to sit down and negotiate with the minority party, which is the Democratic caucus, which has 45 Democrats and 2 independents, 1 of whom is me. That is what you have to do. You have to negotiate to get the 60 votes. But for the first time--I don't know--in history, the Republicans are saying: We don't want to negotiate. It is our way or the highway. You take it or leave it. Given the enormous consequences of what is at stake, appropriately, the Democrats are saying: No. You have to sit down and negotiate. Republicans are refusing to do that. That is the reason we are in a shutdown. To add insult to injury and to tell you how strong the contempt is that the Republican leadership has for the negotiating process, over in the House, Speaker Johnson has given his Members, the House of Representatives, a 6-week paid vacation.”