Political Quotes

“I want to thank my good friend, the distinguished gentleman from the Silver State, for once again anchoring this the CBC Special Order, this hour of power where, for the 60 minutes that we've been allotted, we in the Congressional Black Caucus have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on an issue of great significance, income inequality, which, as you have pointed out Representative Horsford, has increased, has gotten worse, not better, in recent years and, in fact, in recent decades. It's a very troubling trend. The fact is, in America, we celebrate success, celebrate entrepreneurship and the ability of people to prosper. But we in the CBC think that America is at its greatest when we promote progress for everybody, when we work as hard as we can in this Congress and this country to lift the entire civic participation rates and economic participation rates of everybody in this country. For the last several decades, objectively and empirically, the rich have gotten richer. They've seen their incomes increase since 1979 in excess of 275 percent. In isolation, that wouldn't be problematic. But when you consider what has happened to the least of those amongst us, to middle-income Americans as well, the situation is extremely troubling. The poor in many instances have gotten poorer, and working families and middle class folks and those who aspire to be part of the middle class are still struggling. In many instances, they've been left behind.…”