Political Quotes

“On Tuesday at midnight, the Federal Government shut its doors, closed for all but the most essential business concerning national security and the safety of the American people. Mr. President, you know Vermonters, like Americans in every State and town of this country, are frustrated. They are angry and confused. They have seen Congress's inability to do its job and keep the government running. They have seen us pass a budget--we passed a continuing resolution here in the Senate--and a small group in the House of Representatives, a small group of Republicans said: No, we have to have everything we want or nothing. Visual consequences of the shutdown can be found around Washington, where museums and national monuments are barricaded. But it is more than just that. It is more than that. In the States, national parks and national refuges have closed their gates and thousands of Federal offices are shuttered. We heard this morning in the Senate Judiciary Committee from the Director of the National Security Agency, Keith Alexander, that as ``each day goes by, the impact and the jeopardy [of a shutdown] to the safety and security of this country will increase.'' That is true, but the toll of this needless exercise is just beginning to be felt.…”