Political Quotes

“Senator Kennedy mentioned, of course, that this work does not get done without terrific staff work. There are many people to congratulate and thank. I want to point out specifically the work of Patty Cole, of my staff, and Joe Palmore, who did a terrific job in working with the majority staff and the minority staff, Senator Kennedy's staff, and others to put this together. Senator Kennedy said in some ways--at this late hour there are very few people here for this--but this is a very important piece of legislation, a critical element trying to see to it that we will be a strong and vibrant Nation in the 21st century, and hopefully these kinds of statistics we need to turn around. I think it is worthwhile to note there was a program this evening on one of the networks, I think the American Broadcasting Co., ABC, that talked about the things we really ought to be worried about in this country, the real serious threats. Poverty is one of them. If you are living in poverty in the United States, your life expectancy is 7 to 10 years shorter than other Americans. If you begin life as these children are growing up in poverty, that is not only a threat to us in society, but it is a threat to them in their lives. So everyone suffers when these children suffer. This legislation we hope will be a significant step in reversing those trends.”