Political Quotes

“I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette), the Democratic sponsor of the bill who has worked so hard to bring us to this day with this bill on the floor. Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, my father-in-law, Lino Lipinsky de Orlov Senior, was a true renaissance man. During World War II, he was a member of the Italian resistance, whose family sheltered Jews and Allied solders in their apartment. An artist by training, he made his way to this country with letters of introduction and became a world- renowned etcher and museum curator. Most importantly, Lino Senior was a wonderful person. Kind to all and beloved by his family and friends, he reveled in life's small pleasures, creating whimsical drawings for his loved one's birthday cards and recounting tales of Italian youth, from idyllic summers on Capri to his escapades in the Resistance. So, Mr. Chairman, it was more than a tragedy when in 1988, we lost Lino Senior to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a debilitating disease that weakens and atrophies muscles, leaving those with the disease the inability to perform even the most mundane tasks, much less the ability to create great art. Last week, at Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver, I met a young man stricken with ALS who was already confined to a wheelchair. He was there to support our bill, the 21st Century Cures. But what struck me was, in the 25-plus years since we lost Lino Senior, there has been no cure.…”