Political Quotes

“I rise yet again in the strongest possible support of the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, H.R. 847. Today, we must show the American people that their representatives can put away their differences and work together to pass this bill. Over the past few weeks, this clearly was not the case. Some Members of Congress have played political games with this legislation, delaying its passage for dubious reasons and causing the measure to be watered down. The sick and injured don't care about offsets and they don't care whether this is a $6 billion bill or a $7 billion bill. They just care about getting the medical care they need, the medical care they rightly deserve. So Madam Speaker, we are here for the third and I hope final time on the floor of the House to consider doing the decent thing: helping the living victims of 9/11 who continue to suffer the terrible effects of that day. The Federal Government has not stepped up enough to help the responders, volunteers, workers and residents that went to Ground Zero during and after the horrific 9/11 attack. This Congress has not acted to help these victims on a permanent basis--we have the opportunity to do that today. Tragically, some of the very people that we want to help with this legislation have already died. Thousands of Americans who responded need medical treatment now. Thousands more will need treatment in the future.”