Political Quotes

“I have thanked each and every one of the chairs. None have worked harder than Mr. DeFazio from the State of Oregon. He is one of this country's experts on transportation and the movement of goods and services so critical to our economy and so critical to the health of our people. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio). Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, this is an unprecedented challenge to the health and economic well-being of the United States of America, and I am proud to be a Member of the House today here to address this. There are numerous provisions of this bill with which I disagree, and I know there are numerous provisions that my Republican colleagues disagree with, but let's put it a little bit in perspective. After 9/11, we bailed out the airlines, and they got a bunch of cash. What did they do then? They declared bankruptcy, and they preserved their assets--except not their most valuable assets. They screwed their employees. They lost their pensions; they lost their stock options; and they lost their jobs. I remember talking to a 55-year-old flight employee who had been flying 25 years. She said: Now I have to fly 10 more just to get the guaranteed pension at 35 percent of what I would have gotten. Mr. Speaker, that can't happen again. Then, in 2008, Hank Paulson came to us, and he said: Just give me the key to the Treasury, and I will take care of this.…”