Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member of the committee for all of his work on this issue and the suggestions he has as to the importance of what we are doing today. I rise today to discuss our Nation's budget situation and the budget proposals we will vote on later today. While I am pleased that my colleagues have put forth a number of good ideas, this debate is long overdue. The Congressional Budget Act sets a statutory deadline of April 1 for the Senate Budget Committee to report a budget resolution and a deadline of April 15 for completion of a congressional budget. Despite these statutory deadlines, it has been more than 3 years since the Senate passed a budget, and the majority party once again refuses to debate this important topic through the normal budget process. We did not mark up a budget in the Senate Budget Committee, and we have not been given the opportunity to offer amendments to any of the budgets that are before us on the Senate floor. That is disappointing. With a national debt approaching $16 trillion, and it is hard for me to even say $16 trillion--I saw a kid with a t-shirt that said, ``Please don't tell him what comes after $1 trillion.'' With $16 trillion in debt, we cannot afford to continue operating without a budget that is a blueprint to put the country on a sustainable path in both the short term as well as the long term, and we better be looking at that long term as well.…”