Political Quotes

“First, I thank my colleague from Iowa, Senator Harkin, for the clarity of his statement, for his sincerity and, most importantly, for his leadership. We have the Affordable Care Act because of Tom Harkin, Chris Dodd, Barbara Mikulski, and others who worked hard to make sure it was here to help families all across America, particularly those in low-income situations. Like Senator Harkin, I was stunned this morning when the Republican leader came to the floor and said: The first thing we want to do is to repeal all of this health care preventive care that will be available across America, including the provisions that go into effect tomorrow protecting 47 million of our women and family members all across the United States--2 million in Illinois, I might add, will be helped by this. They insist on bringing up on the pending bill on the Senate floor this amendment to basically remove the protection for these women that is built into the Affordable Care Act. I have to say to Senator Harkin, we can't be too surprised at this. Does the Senator remember the very first amendment the Republicans offered on the Transportation bill--a bill that we wanted to pass to build highways and airports? Remember what Senator Blunt, the Republican from Missouri, offered as the first Republican amendment to the Transportation bill? It was on family planning. Family planning on transportation? I guess some late night comedian can make a connection, but I don't get it.…”