"The numbers reflect people's lives. No job, no wages, no health care."
"What I think has crystallized the issue for all of us is the H1N1 crisis."
"It was groundbreaking and visionary public policy to meet the needs that people were facing in their lives."
"For all of these reasons and more, Senator Kennedy and I first introduced the Healthy Families Act, 5 years ago."
"I believe that paid sick days are a basic question of right and wrong, as Senator Kennedy did."
"Now is the time to protect our communities and put family values to work by adopting policies that guarantee a basic workplace standard of paid sick days."
"I hope that we, in the Congress, can honor Senator Kennedy's legacy by finding the strength and the will to get this legislation passed for America's workers and families."
"Passing the Healthy Families Act or emergency legislation that reflects its core principles would finally give American workers and their families the freedom to care for themselves or a sick relative..."
"Establishing paid sick days is also about economic competitiveness, income security for families, and, as H1N1 has proved to us this past year, primarily the public health."
"The argument that we cannot afford to institute paid sick days right now does not hold water."
"We all urge you to quickly pass the Healthy Families Act, the bill now before Congress that offers the best solution to this problem."