Political Quotes

“Madam President, as we learned today from articles around the country--I will refer briefly to one in USA Today: As gas prices hover near $4 a gallon, nearly seven in 10 Americans say the high cost of fuel is causing financial hardship for their families, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. More than half say they have made major changes to compensate for the higher prices, ranging from shorter trips to cutting back on vacation travel. For 21 percent, the impact is so dramatic they say their standard of living is jeopardized. It goes on to indicate that the situation involving gas prices is very focused and, in the lives of some, drastic. The other issue the American people face--and they should--is we have to do something about raising the debt ceiling. We can only do that-- Democrats, Republicans, Independents agree--by doing something about bringing down the deficit, and it has to be something that is meaningful. A place to start in that regard would be to focus on these gas prices, how concerned people are and, in addition to that, the deficit. We have a bill we will vote on this evening that says these subsidies given to oil companies, the five big oil companies, which in the last quarter made $36 billion; that is net profit--we are saying those subsidies are no longer necessary. We have had over the years a number of executives from these companies say they are not necessary.…”