Political Quotes

“It is crucially important that we pass this bill. The most fundamental responsibility of government is to fund the government and operate. And as simple as that may sound, over the course of the last 8 years, we have repeatedly failed to do that. We have had several government shutdowns, countless other threatened government shutdowns, continuing resolutions, and a steady failure to even come close to meeting the October 1st deadline for funding the discretionary portion of the government; and that has had a devastating impact. Certainly, we have heard on a number of occasions about the impact it has had on our national security. The Department of Defense has not been able to plan its budget for too many years. It has led to inconsistency and, as we have heard, it has led to a readiness crisis. But this applies also to the nondefense discretionary portion of the budget; to infrastructure, and healthcare, and education, and housing. All of those items have been under uncertainty for too long over the course of the last 8 years. This budget agreement, though not perfect, funds the government and, I believe, responsibly funds the government, both defense and nondefense. I really want to commend both Secretary Mnuchin and Speaker Pelosi for coming together and negotiating this agreement. There is no secret that we have big differences between the Democratically controlled House and the White House and the Republican-controlled Senate.…”