Political Quotes

“Madam President, we soon will vote on a measure that includes two significant pieces of legislation. I support passage of both--one that upholds our duty to assist Americans coping with natural disasters, and one that upholds our duty as Americans to speak out against oppression and abuse around the world. The first measure provides emergency supplemental funding for disaster relief and recovery efforts. Congress must do its job to appropriate emergency funding for disaster response and recovery quickly and thoughtfully, as we have done numerous times in the past. I will vote for this measure because the $6.9 billion in emergency supplemental funding for disaster relief and recovery is necessary to help families and businesses bounce back from catastrophic loss, to rebuild damaged infrastructure, to respond to emergencies, to restore forests and watersheds damaged by disaster, and to improve flood control structures. Importantly, this legislation does not set the bad precedent of requiring an offset in order to help communities and families when disaster strikes. The second measure would renew sanctions against Burma by extending the import restrictions put in place under the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.…”