Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to discuss the circumstances many unemployed families face. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and now face serious financial consequences. Many families are having trouble paying the rent or their mortgage, or they are struggling to buy necessities for their children. On February 6, the Senate voted, again, to try to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed who are down on their luck. But we still fell one vote short. We needed one more Republican. I hope one of my colleagues on the Republican side will join us soon to get that legislation over the top and help folks who have been hurting since the first of the year. Getting this benefit extended is only one of the problems that unemployed families have faced in my State. Thousands of unemployed Floridians have had their benefits delayed by flaws in the State's new automated unemployment system. The website is called ``Florida CONNECT.'' But ironically it has left many Floridians disconnected. We started hearing about some of the problems people were facing soon after the website was launched late last year. When I started hearing about these reports, I asked U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez to investigate. And I am pleased to report that the Department of Labor is now working with the State to sort out who should be getting their checks.…”