Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am so glad that you are presiding at this time because I know you are part of the Joint Select Committee on Budget Reform. I want to address that a little bit. Earlier this week, the Senate passed its version of the fiscal year 2019 Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending bills. Prior to this week, the last time the Senate had passed its version of a regular appropriations bill--not a supplemental or an omnibus bill--was more than 2 years ago. I commend Chairman Shelby and the members of the Appropriations Committee for their work in getting us this far and for their commitment to restoring a more regular process for the consideration of appropriations measures. I hope that in the weeks to come, we will be able to process more such measures in a similarly productive manner. It was a long road getting to this point. Last February, after a brief government shutdown that followed an immigration policy dispute and a yearlong stalemate on appropriations, Congress and the administration agreed to legislation establishing new discretionary spending caps for this fiscal year and the next and providing a process for budget enforcement--something normally done by the Budget Committee. This latest budget agreement follows a string of 2-year budget deals, each reached under the threat of a shutdown.…”