Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Washington for her comments and her leadership in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, as well. She has been a consistent spokesman for children, especially for homeless children. I want to make an observation about the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program that the Presiding Officer from New Jersey will especially find of interest because of his work with children and schools in New Jersey. We have heard this morning a great deal of support for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, which is a very remarkable piece of legislation in terms of the way it is structured, if we think about it. It has been around for about 20 years, but it takes 5 to 6 billion Federal dollars each year and gives it to States--a block grant with a lot of flexibility. Then the money is distributed as vouchers to individual parents--low-income women, mostly--who then choose among thousands of certified childcare centers. That, I would argue, while it was done 20 years ago, fits the Internet age. Newt Gingrich--and I have sometimes accused Newt of being Vesuvian in his qualities because he has such a steady flow of new ideas--has done some very interesting work recently. He quotes a computer programmer named Tim O'Reilly who made a suggestion for how the Internet could transform government. Mr.…”