Political Quotes

“I want to talk a little about the legislation before us to repeal and replace ObamaCare, otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act. When I travel around my home State of Ohio, I hear about a couple things a lot. One is the tough job market and flat wages, which makes it difficult to get ahead. The other is--and it is related--escalated health care costs. People are seeing in their lives that it is tough to find that job, and if they do have a job, they are finding their wages aren't going up as they would normally expect. Unfortunately, when we look nationally this is true. Wages on average are not just flat; they are slightly down. In other words, they have declined, which is not typical. On the other hand, expenses are up, and the biggest expense: health care. So the middle-class squeeze is very real. It is affecting the people I represent as they see, again, unusually low wages, not the growth that we normally expect on the one hand, and on the other hand higher expenses, with health care taking the lead in those expenses. Today in the Senate and tomorrow, as we debate this and vote on it, we have a chance to move the ball forward and show people that at least a majority in the Congress agree we ought to address this issue--the health care issue, of course--and try to stop the incredibly fast increase in premiums, deductibles, copays. Families, small businesses are getting hit hard.…”