Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am glad we passed the bill here now-- it already passed the House--to help all of those Americans who find the tragedy in Haiti so wrenching and want to help. Americans are trying to help in lots of ways. Some are taking orphans into their homes. I have worked, as an example, in the last several days with many churches and organizations, including especially the Catholic Relief Society, to just help in any way we possibly can. But there are other Americans who just want to help with financial contributions. So this bill enables many people--in my home State of Montana, many people have contacted me to say: Max, what can we do to help? And this is essentially an effort to help people who want to help, so they can get a deduction on their 2009 tax returns if that deduction is made between basically the date of the earthquake, January 11, and March 1. So any contributions made during this period will be tax-deductible on 2009 income tax returns. I am happy to work on a bipartisan basis with Senator Grassley, my counterpart on the Finance Committee, and he and I worked to get this put together, as well as the two Senators from Florida--both political parties. They very much care about this, and I know all Senators do. But I give particular thanks to those Senators who have been very helpful to get this put together and get it passed without any rancor. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER.…”