Political Quotes

“Yesterday's vote to advance a measure which is so vitally important to our country--to extend the lifeline to Americans who lost their jobs during this great recession--was a very positive development, but we are a long way from restoring benefits to 1.3 million people who have been looking for work for months, some of them for years. The few Republicans willing to even debate this measure have already threatened to vote against even a short-term extension unless it is fully paid for. Let me start by saying I am opposed to offsetting the cost of emergency unemployment benefits--I repeat, emergency unemployment benefits. I don't understand why my Republican colleagues can't read the script from the administration of their President, our President, President Bush. Five times during his time in office--the second President Bush--we extended emergency unemployment insurance benefits by declaring an emergency, as we should now. We should realize that today there is only one job available for every three people seeking a job. Think about it. This legislation calls for a 3-month extension. That is all. Let's extend this now and give those people their benefits, and then we will work to see whether we can come up with a long-term solution to this issue. I have heard one of the leaders in the House, one of the Republicans, say we need to do something about opportunities for jobs. We agree. Let's see what we can come up with, but let's extend the benefits for 3 months now.…”