Political Quotes

“I wish to thank Senator Conrad for his leadership on this issue. At the end of last week, the Republicans in the House of Representatives passed legislation that continues their mad dash away from the bipartisan Budget Control Act and reflects the upside-down priorities that are guiding their party and stands absolutely no chance of passage in the Senate. I think it would be very helpful at this point to remind my colleagues of the recent history that has brought us to this point. In August of last year Democrats and Republicans came together, and we agreed to the Budget Control Act to cut spending and put in place a process for additional deficit reduction. The purpose of that bipartisan agreement was to move toward serious deficit reduction and to give some consistency to the Federal budget so the American people would not be threatened with a government shutdown every few months. That bipartisan deal sets the levels for next year's discretionary spending, which allows Congress to do its jobs and work to allocate Federal resources toward investments in jobs, infrastructure, innovation, maintaining our commitment to our servicemembers and their families, and protecting and supporting the middle-class families and so much more. That was the agreement we came to. Speaker Boehner shook on it, Minority Leader McConnell shook on it, Majority Leader Reid signed it, joined many of my colleagues in voting for it, and then President Obama signed it into law.…”