Political Quotes

“I thank the distinguished Senator from Texas. As I said earlier on the floor this week, I will miss working with her. We have worked together on a number of things. I know my distinguished colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham, has already spoken on the amendment of the junior Senator from Kentucky which would offset a portion of the cost of the supplemental by rescinding unobligated funds from the fiscal year 2013 continuing resolution for the Department of State and foreign aid programs and operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development. I agree with him in opposing it. The fiscal year 2013 CR provides $13.4 billion for these national security programs. Of course, we are only 90 days into the fiscal year and $10.4 billion is not yet obligated. No matter how good an amendment such as this might sound, we need to talk about the reality. These days we seem to have two types of arguments, those that go to symbols and those that go to substance. Let me speak about the substance of what this amendment would do to all of our foreign assistance programs. It would effectively bring to a halt U.S. foreign aid programs around the world. It would shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. The distinguished Presiding Officer and his family have experienced how important these programs are throughout the world. Let me tell my colleagues some of the things this amendment would do.…”