Alan Grayson

Wouldn't we be better off if we gave the same amount of money to good banks, banks that were functioning well?

How do we get to a point where a good bank has a bad asset?

So why is it that we do something like enable banks to absorb losses from bad assets in this program?

Is it safe to say that nobody in 1913 contemplated that your small little group of people would decide to hand out half a trillion dollars to foreigners?

Well, the Constitution says, 'No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law.'

Seriously, wouldn't it have been better to extend that kind of credit to Americans rather than New Zealanders?

Residents of Puerto Rico have laid down their lives in defense of American democratic values for over nine decades.

This is deeply, deeply unfair. Whether Puerto Ricans decide in favor of statehood or not, there is an existing inequality that needs to be addressed.

If Puerto Rico were a state, it would have six representatives in Congress instead of only one who cannot be the deciding vote on the Floor of the House.

Though its residents are American citizens, the island is not a state and its residents have no equal voting representation in Congress.

Under this legislation, voters will be asked by Congress whether they wish to maintain Puerto Rico's present form.

We owe it to them to let them make their choice. This is what democracy means.

The people of Puerto Rico deserve no less.

If Puerto Rico were a state, their people could help to choose our President. Now they cannot.

Congress shouldn't dictate to the Puerto Rican people what is best for them; the people themselves must be allowed to decide their fate.

How many American employees never get a day off? Guess. The number is over 27 million.

Do you support family values? Then let us give the 27 million Americans who don't have a chance to be with their families a chance to spend some more time with their families.

I will admit there are some people who tell me that they oppose this bill, and I ask them one question: Do you get a vacation? The answer is always yes.

I believe that the passage of those two bills will make significant gains in the health, productivity, and well-being of our workforce and our country.

I too believe that a healthy worker is a happy worker. And a happy worker is a productive worker.

It is legal to destroy your company and hand the taxpayer a hundred billion dollar bill.

What I want to hear is I want to hear your best ideas about how we should hold accountable the people who have already screwed up.

Nobody is being held accountable for that. Nobody is being punished for that.

How could a $192 million loss result in a $100-billion-plus loss to the taxpayers? How is that possible?

Can you give me some idea of the justification for a company like Fannie Mae increasing its exposure to derivatives?