Political Quotes

“Wall Street and international markets are clearly concerned or worse over a possible U.S. recession. Congress is formulating, as we know--the President, both parties' leadership, the Members of the House and Senate--an economic stimulus package, which is the right thing to do, but there are several pieces to this puzzle. The economy is faltering, to be sure, and we have those concerns about our economy as a whole. Equally important, I would argue more importantly, more Americans are losing access to basic necessities because of it. A stimulus package should do two things. First of all, a stimulus package needs to stimulate the economy so we can pull ourselves more quickly and more vigorously, if you will, out of this recession. A stimulus package also, equally or more importantly, needs to help those people who have been most victimized by the recession. I rise to urge this body to take responsibility for helping those who are without food, without adequate heat, and without adequate housing; those for whom the economic crisis is not just a source of anxiety, in some sense it is a thief in the night who has robbed Americans of basic human needs.”