Political Quotes

“in a few moments we are going to vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 8337, the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 and Other Extensions Act of 2020. I will speak a little bit about what is in there, but I will urge all Members to vote aye. The bill provides funding for the government through December 11 at fiscal year 2020 funding levels. It will be under the same terms and conditions contained in the fiscal year 2020 appropriations laws. These were the laws that Chairman Shelby and I brought to the floor and have been voted on. It includes several authorization matters to extend programs that otherwise would expire, including some important health and veteran programs. So as vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I support the bill, but I am disappointed that it is needed at all. As I have said many times, we had ample--ample time in the Senate to complete our work on the 12 appropriations bills, but we didn't mark up a single one. In June, July, we could have passed all 12 of them, but the majority leader wouldn't even bring up a single one of them. Apparently, he is more interested in confirming extreme rightwing judges than moving legislation to address the needs of the American people, including appropriations bills or critical legislation to combat the COVID virus and its impact on families and the economy.…”