Political Quotes

“I rise tonight to express my concern with how Congress continues to address this package of so-called extenders. This is a debate we have had on multiple occasions this year, and once again we find ourselves discussing how to enact a short-term extension of items such as emergency unemployment benefits, reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, the Federal Medicaid matching rate, FMAP, and the Medicare doc fix. This is a difficult debate for many of us. Times are tough across the country, as well as in my home State of Georgia where the unemployment rate is 10.4 percent. During a time of economic hardship, I do not believe we should allow provisions, such as the extension of emergency unemployment benefits, to expire. But I do believe that when we extend these programs, we should do so in a responsible fashion. Congress should find a way to pay for those extensions. That is where there is disagreement on this issue--not whether Congress should pass an extenders package but whether it should be paid for.”