Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank my friend from Hawaii for convening us here tonight. This isn't theoretical. This isn't about numbers. This is about real people. We know them. They exist throughout our States. I have told this story a few times before on the floor of the Senate. When I think about the progress that has been made over the course of the last 6 years, I think about Betty Burger. Betty is a woman who lives in Meriden, CT. Betty and her husband did everything we asked them to do. They were morally upstanding citizens, contributed to their community, had full employment, raised good kids. Her husband switched jobs. He switched jobs, and he had a 1-week, maybe a 2-week period of time in between those two jobs. As luck--or lack of it--would have it, during that brief intermission between employment, their son was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer then became a preexisting condition, which meant her husband's new employer would not cover the son as part of a family plan. The cancer progressed and progressed and progressed, and this family, the Burgers, had no means to keep up with the payments. Their story, unfortunately, is not foreign to folks who have heard from constituents who have gone bankrupt because of healthcare costs. The Burgers lost everything. The Burgers first went through their savings, then they went into their son's college account, then they sold their car, then they sold their house.…”