Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this summer I took part in the Speak Out for Good Jobs Now! Rebuild the American Dream tour. Thousands of concerned Americans packed rooms across this country to share their stories of hardship, unemployment, and struggle. From these stories, my colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and I wrote the Rebuild the American Dream Jobs Framework, which outlines how we will put America back to work and get our economy moving again. I wanted to take some time today to share some of the stories and realities that we heard on this tour. My first story is from Kimberly Lawrence from my State of Arizona. She says, ``I waited more than 30 years to finally receive a modest inheritance from my grandmother's property. I used the money to make improvements on my home that my husband and I were buying, and to open my own childcare business. It happened that the year I opened is the same year the economy failed. I struggled to hold on, but when the new Governor of Arizona stripped away childcare subsidies and at the same time raised licensing fees by 200 percent, I lost nearly all of my clientele. ``I lived in a town that relied on hospitality jobs, which, coupled with all else, crippled the local economy and forced me out of business. My husband was laid off from his cabinet-maker job. And now, after struggling, our home is in foreclosure and set for auction. Everything I hoped for had finally taken shape, just to be ripped away.…”