Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I stand today in support of the updated Heroes Act. The previous gentleman was dismissive of the idea that there is some import to this moment in terms of getting a package done. So that means expanding unemployment insurance? That is not important, unemployment insurance that we might consider now which is part of the need of the American family? A reminder: There are 26 million Americans right now collecting unemployment insurance. Let me put this in terms of what an economist might say. If we don't expand unemployment insurance and keep the $600 supplement, the challenges that people are going to have in terms of daily sustenance for food, paying the rent, and paying their utility bills is going to mean, eventually, that the landlord can't collect rents that then, subsequently, are used to pay for property taxes and mortgage payments, which means then that they can't make their payments to the credit unions or community bankers, which, overwhelmingly, are the custodians of America's origination in terms of the mortgage markets. So maybe we, as two parties, might agree on the following: If you don't defeat the virus, Mr. Speaker, you are never going to expedite economic recovery. That is the real argument in front of this Chamber at this moment. Mr. Speaker, 200,000 Americans--actually, about 205,000 Americans as of today--have died from the pandemic. Every one of us at home are hearing the desperation of our constituents.…”