Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise to bring up two key priorities-- two important unmet needs--which I hope this body and the U.S. House will act on immediately and certainly by the end of the year. The first is the Steve Gleason Act, legislation I drafted which passed last year but for a limited period of time. We need to make that permanent for reasons I will explain. The second even broader need is to ensure that victims of the recent flooding in Louisiana--many families whose lives were devastated in incalculable terms--get the aid they need. We made an important downpayment on that before we wrapped up business before the elections, with the understanding that we would clearly revisit the issue between now and the end of the year. Madam President, first, the Steve Gleason Act. As I said, I am very happy that last year the Senate and the House passed my legislation, the bipartisan Steve Gleason Act of 2015. It provided immediate relief to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and other similar patients who needed the help to make sure they had access to important, life-changing medical equipment. I first heard about this need in 2014, when thousands of patients, patient advocates, and others came to Congress in order to bring attention to the devastating consequences of what was then a brandnew Medicare policy.…”