Political Quotes

“I want to echo the majority leader's comments when I agree that this issue, the issue of extending unemployment benefits, should not be a Republican or Democrat issue. And we, of course, on our side of the aisle, want to extend unemployment benefits for those who need help. And we are prepared to work, as we have been, to achieve that goal. I would note that 8 weeks ago when the Ways and Means Committee took up this legislation, it was deemed emergency legislation. It had to move through the committee quickly. It was an emergency. We had to do it right away. Well 2 months later it finally comes to the floor. And I believe that if we want to be compassionate, if we want to help those who need help, we need to do it in the right way. And that is if it is an emergency, we should have done it 8 weeks ago, number one, but we should also do it in the proper legislative way of ensuring that it is a bipartisan bill and that we construct it in a way that recognizes what has worked in the past. And I would note, as the majority leader said, back in 2002, we passed a bipartisan unemployment extension legislation that was signed into law by the President, and it maintained a 27-year precedent which was that one should have to work for 20 weeks in order to qualify for 52 weeks' worth of unemployment benefits. And that is the big concern here with this legislation today.”