Political Quotes

“I rise in support of what we have before us, which is good legislation, a package of legislation that is good for workers and a package of legislation that is good for small business. This legislation deserves bipartisan support. First, this bill raises the minimum wage. Today, the minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. Under this legislation, we raise it to $7.25 an hour. That is a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage. It is about time. I support this minimum wage increase. It is the right thing to do. This legislation does more, because it is a package. Of course, when you look into the package, look at the details, you see some good things that help our communities. One example is an important environmental cleanup tax credit, the brownfields tax credit, which is extended for 2 more years under this legislation. Not only is it extended, it is expanded to be able to do more. There are almost 2,000 so-called brownfields in the region that I represent in the Chicago area. Forty percent of them have petroleum contamination. You think of that old abandoned gas station on that one prominent corner in your home community that has been sitting there for years and you always wonder, why doesn't somebody buy that and do something with that strategic corner in our town. It is because it has petroleum contamination.…”