Political Quotes

“I rise to introduce the Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act, alongside my colleague and friend from Maine, Senator Susan Collins. We are going to hear from her in a few minutes. I want to say a few words about an issue that is all too familiar to many of our States from coast to coast--those represented by Democrats, those represented by Republicans. Earlier this month, we saw positive economic data from the Census Bureau that showed that over the last year, American middle-class and low-income families saw the largest growth in their income in generations. I thank my colleague from Maine for her incredible work on the legislation we are going to be introducing today. There are simply far too many families in my home State of New Mexico and across this Nation who are still struggling to make ends meet, even to put food on the table and certainly to escape multigenerational poverty. Last year, nearly one in five New Mexicans lived below the federally defined poverty rate. Think about that, one in five. These are mothers, fathers, and grandparents trying to support themselves and their families. They are young adults trying to get ahead and lay the groundwork for the future they have envisioned for themselves, but often the dreams we have of going to school and getting a job are cut short by the reality that these once rites of passage on the way to the American dream are further and further out of reach.…”