Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to commend my colleague from New Jersey for an eloquent and soaring speech that speaks to the collective aspirations we should have in this body on behalf of the collective Nation we represent. I am not at all surprised at Senator Booker's ability to relate to this body the lives of people from New Jersey and across the country who depend upon us to respond to them in their times of need and to remind us of the greater nature of what we should stand for as an institution and on behalf of this country. He did it with such aplomb and such passion and intensity, yet at the same time with such sincerity that I think it is an excellent beginning to what will be a very long series of remarks in the Senate on critical issues that will both inform us and at the same time remind us of the high calling for which we are all brought to the Senate. I want to take one moment to add to what Senator Booker said, specifically on the topic he ultimately drove home, and that is this question of unemployment. I want to relate one story--I see the Senator from Utah is up, so I will relate only one story--but it speaks to the very heart of what Senator Booker was conveying here. I get thousands of letters from people who depend on their meager unemployment benefits to avert economic disaster while they desperately look for work. As Senator Booker said, these people are not lazy; they are not looking for a handout. They just want a job, any job.…”