Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to address the Senate on behalf of the people of California. And I thank my colleague Senator Padilla for his leadership during this time of incredible difficulty and strain for our fellow constituents. The unimaginable has happened, and our hearts are broken--a city encircled in a blaze and a perfect storm of fire and wind and with a system stretched beyond its breaking point. A natural disaster so immense in size and scale it will dwarf any recovery and rebuilding effort since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. It is that immense and impending recovery effort that I am asking--I am pleading--for your help with today. Already, the support that you and the President have given California have helped firefighters battle the flames, helped save lives, and helped those who lost everything find shelter. I want to express my particular appreciation for President Biden and what the administration has done, the almost immediate declaration of a disaster which unlocked important FEMA and other funding, the commitment to match--to provide, really--100 percent of Federal funding for the first 6 months of these fire mitigation efforts. I am very grateful for what the Congress and the President have done. This recovery is going to be measured in years, not months. Even so, we must bring a sense of urgency to the recovery and not let it linger.…”