Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Daines for calling us together for what I think is a good reminder to those who are watching and in the Gallery that we are deeply committed to seeing a Senate that functions and a Senate that exercises opinions and has full and open debate on this revered Senate floor. I thank Senator Daines for putting together the freshmen colloquy. I thank Senator Rounds. We are seatmates, sitting next to one another in this great and beautiful Hall. It is interesting to hear everybody's different perspectives on why this bill is so important. Let's just recall how we got here. I am a member of the Appropriations Committee with Senator Daines, and the Presiding Officer is as well. We debated this bill in the committee room. We did several amendment votes. In the subcommittee, many thoughtful decisions were made, and discussions were had as to the priorities of our defense capabilities. In the end, we joined together, Republicans and Democrats, and passed this out of the full committee 30 to 0--no opposition. For those of you who are watching and even for me, a freshman in our freshman class, we would think, well, this is a layup. This is about our men and women in uniform. This has overwhelmingly come out in a bipartisan fashion. All 14 Democrats on the committee supported this. What has changed here? What has changed? Why are the Democrats now filibustering to keep the Senate from even considering this legislation that was unanimous out of committee and well discussed?…”