Political Quotes

“I come to the floor, like many of my colleagues, shocked at the Republican majority's brazen, secretive effort to hijack the legislative process and pass a bill that would hurt millions of Americans. I have served in public office for more than four decades, and never once in my 45 years as a mayor, a State legislator, a Congressman, or a Senator has it been so hard to understand the motivations of an opposing party. What kind of problems are Republicans trying to solve with legislation that raises premiums, reduces coverage, decimates Medicaid, and increases costs for everyone? Certainly not any of the concerns I have heard in New Jersey. Never has someone come up to me at the local diner to say that their premiums are too low or that Medicaid covers too many children or that cancer patients don't pay enough out of pocket. There is only one place in America where these bad ideas have any traction, and that is behind closed doors in Washington, where 13 Republican men are working on a secret bill to take healthcare away from millions of people and raise costs on millions and millions more. They want no transparency, no bipartisan input, no hearings. Those are the same Republicans who in 2009 and 2010 accused Democrats of ramming healthcare reform through Congress too quickly.…”