On the recordMarch 11, 2011
As I sat here and I listened to all of this, there are some things that are missing from this discussion which I think we are forgetting. And that, you know, sometimes I think that we forget that this is America. This is a country that has gained its power through its moral authority, not necessarily by its military might. And we have heard discussions this morning about kicking the can down the road, putting money into a rathole. You know, the more I think about it, Madam Chair, I think it is a very sad day when somebody from a State with high foreclosures can get up and talk about destroying a program that will help his own neighbors. There is something wrong with that picture. President Barack Obama uses a term that I wish I had invented. He says that we have an empathy deficit in our country. And I wonder what it's going to feel like on Sunday when my colleagues go to church, read from the same Bible that I read from, and can brag about the fact that they were able to kill a program that would allow some 30,000 people to stay in their own homes while at the same time, when I go to church, I will have to explain to them why they did it. We are better than that. We are better as a Nation. We are better, and it's easy for people to go home. You will go home tonight, you will fly home. You will have a nice, warm house.…
