Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. And I would respond, this bill is about economic resilience. You can't be independent if you go bankrupt. You can't be independent if you can't operate your business. I have gone into restaurant after restaurant in my district, and the owners of those restaurants have had thanks for me, for the Congress, and, yes, for the administration, including Donald Trump, who signed many of these bills, that at a time of extraordinary stress--through no fault of their own, but a pandemic that attacked all of us--they were able to keep their heads above water, pay their employees, even if they couldn't be open, transfer to carry out, and do so many things that they were able to do to remain viable, which is, by the way, why almost every State has a surplus. Why? Because revenues did not fall as they were projected to fall. That is true in my State. I think it is true in almost every State. Why didn't revenues fall? Because we kept people above water. Now, in this particular program that passed--in many respects with bipartisan support in 2020, December of 2020, as well--there were some 250,000-plus who were eligible under the rules that we drafted and passed but only about 100,000 of them got relief, which means that we left behind 150,000 people who were eligible under the rules that we set. And now some would say to those that were left behind, You are on your own. That is not what we are going to do today.…”