Political Quotes

“first, I applaud the Senator from Alaska. He makes us all want to be there. Mr. President, let me speak for a moment in my role as vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee about the continuing resolution that the distinguished majority leader has just mentioned. The current spending caps set in place by law will not responsibly fund the government or alleviate the consequences of sequestration on both our domestic priorities and our military readiness. Since March 1, along with many others, I have constantly repeated that we must reach a bipartisan budget deal that is based on parity, free of poison pill riders, not waste taxpayer dollars on a useless border wall, which we will never be reimbursed for by Mexico. But with the current continuing resolution expiring tomorrow, we are running out of time to reach an agreement. The continuing resolution before us today will allow us more time to reach a bipartisan agreement and keep the government's lights on during negotiations. I will join with the distinguished majority leader in voting for this, but the key to successful negotiation during that time is parity. Sequestration has had devastating consequences on our country that are going to impact a generation, but we have to raise the caps on both sides of the ledger--defense and nondefense. Anywhere you go, the vast majority of Americans will agree that it is not an academic exercise.…”