Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Vermont for his eloquent and passionate presentation for hours this morning. He clearly has presented to this Chamber and to the American people some stark realities that are unpleasant. Some people might even find them hard to believe. But he has done his homework. He has documented what he said. In that backdrop, it does make this agreement, made between the Republican leadership and the President of the United States, even harder for some of us to understand. I want to acknowledge, as the Senator said--I know there are pressures on all sides, and time is running out; we have to make a decision about tax cuts in a short period of time. We do not have the benefit of several months or even half a year. I understand the pressures of time. But as the Senator from Vermont pointed out, how about the pressures on the middle class? What about these pressures? What about this pain? I was wondering, because I wanted to ask the Senator from Vermont--I was not able to follow his entire presentation this morning--did he quote from the report ``Income Inequality and the Great Recession,'' done by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, led by Charles Schumer? I ask the Senator, did you quote from this report?”