Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in firm opposition to this motion to go to conference without a vote on the Senate bill to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. It is deeply disappointing and troubling that we'll be denied the opportunity to vote on the Senate's overwhelmingly bipartisan compromise that would bring relief to millions of America's working families. Now, my Republican colleagues have said: Pass the 1-year bill that passed the House last week. Well, talk to your Republican colleagues in the Senate. Four times the Senate Democrats tried to bring up your bill, and four times a Senate Republican objected. Facts are hard. If we do not pass this bill, 160 million Americans will face a $1,000 tax increase as we go into the new year. If we do not act, in my home State, 9 million Floridians will see this tax increase next year. If we do not act, 2.2 million unemployed Americans will lose their unemployment benefits. And if we do not act, 48 million seniors will face the specter of having to find new doctors due to cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates. Like many of my colleagues, I have received countless constituent calls, letters, and emails, many of them very personal and emotional. Just this morning, I was especially moved by a note from a single mom, Christine, with a 3-year-old daughter, from my congressional district. She wrote: I am pleading my case to you out of desperation to extend unemployment insurance.…”