Patty Murray

The President is the leader of the country. It is up to him to push for compromise. He does not do that.

They oppose any compromise. They have said it on the floor.

It is opening an economic Pandora's box, literally.

We cannot lower health care spending simply by shifting these costs from the Federal Government onto seniors and States and the most vulnerable families.

I believe we have a sacred obligation to keep the promises we have made to our men and women in uniform.

I think it is really important that we listen to those kinds of people.

America has always been a country that strives to build a stronger country for the next generation.

We owe it to all our children to come together to find some fair solutions that help our economy grow.

We cannot ask our children, especially our most vulnerable children, to bear the burden of our spending cuts.

We cannot and should not solve our debt and deficit problems on the backs of our children.

What we need, obviously, is a long-run plan that comes in gradually, that makes the kinds of entitlement cuts that do not slam into the economy in one year.

The sequester is not a good way to proceed.

We need to maintain a strong national defense that allows us to meet today's international threats.

I do not think that is fair or right.

The managing of our budget policy by crisis has not worked; it needs to end.

I think we agree completely, Senator Sessions, that looking out 20, 30, 50 years, there are important issues that need to be confronted.

Where do we make the choices going forward regarding spending and taxes?

The indiscriminate cuts from sequestration are threatening our fragile economic recovery, as well as our national security.

I believe that our Senate budget does lay out a vision for tax reform that can reduce our deficits and strengthen the middle class and grow our economy in a broad-based and sustainable way.

Lowering spending may reduce the deficit in the short term, but I want to ask how it affects prospects for future economic growth.

If the goal of our budget plan is to strengthen the middle class and work towards broad-based economic growth, finding savings from unfair tax provisions is an opportunity to responsibly reduce our deficit and invest in our future.

As Democrats and Republicans both know, responsible deficit reduction is essential to our long-term prosperity.

I am really committed to a budget that reflects the values and priorities.

Raising taxes instead of reforming Government means turning a blind eye to the colossal waste of taxpayers' money.

Until this National Government gets serious about containing runaway costs and establishing efficient management programs, the American people should not even consider sending one more dime to this Government.