Political Quotes

“I come to the floor today as the chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee to express my strong support for the End the Government Shutdown and Secure Our Borders Act. This legislation includes many important priorities, and they are important priorities that we need to address now. In the past several days and weeks, there has been a lot of talk about who has more leverage, who is winning, and what the political stakes are. You hear a lot of different answers to those questions, depending on whom you ask, quite frankly, but I will tell you one thing: Those are not the questions on the minds of our Federal workers. Just this morning, at about 4 o'clock, I had a conversation with several TSA agents at Yeager Airport, where I fly out of to come to Washington. In talking about the situation, what I got in response from them was a lot of headshaking and a lot of questions. Their questions had to do with this: How are they going to pay their bills and when is this going to end? I understand their frustration. I am frustrated. That is exactly why I have always said that a shutdown is no way to govern. It is not in anyone's best interest. It is a disservice to our Federal works. It is a show of our inability to do our jobs in conjunction with those on the other side of the aisle, and it is a signal to the American people that we think this confusing and ineffective way to govern is OK, when it is not. It is not OK.…”