Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for yielding. First, let me say I appreciate the work the chairman has done over the last several months trying to get our regular appropriations bills done and then trying to get this CR finished when it became apparent we weren't going to be able to negotiate a top line yet, something that we will continue to work on. There have been a lot of things said on this floor that I have to say just aren't true. It is not a different interpretation of the facts. They are just not true. There is nothing in here that cuts Social Security. There is nothing in here that cuts Medicare. There is nothing in here that cuts Medicaid. Yet, I keep hearing that. These are the talking points that were created before this bill was actually written. It is difficult to write a year-long CR. This is the first time I can remember it being done. It is almost harder writing that than it is writing the regular appropriation bills because we have to put anomalies in it, things that have to be done as we move on with the regular funding. The reason I have been able to support this CR and will vote for it is because of the work that our chairman, Mr. Cole, has done with some of these anomalies that were absolutely necessary. In the Interior arena there were four anomalies that really needed to be addressed to get this CR done. One is it fully funds PILT payments, which is an estimated level of $600 million, which is $85 million above what was the current level.…”