Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the Senator from West Virginia, and I thank our colleague Senator Capito. Last week I joined Senator Manchin, Senator Capito, and others to speak to hundreds of coal miners rallying on the lawn right outside the Capitol. It was an oppressively hot day, yet the heat and humidity seemed to bother them not at all. They are used to working in mines and working in some of the hardest and least safe conditions in this country. One of the things that most impressed me at the beginning of this rally was when President Cecil Roberts, the president of the UMWA, stood up and asked at the beginning of his remarks: How many of you are veterans? A huge number of miners put their hands up. He then asked about family members and World War II veterans. We think about these mine workers. Some stayed in the mines and continued to mine coal, to win our wars and to power our defense plants and to power our homes and our commercial establishments and everything else. So many of them went off to war. As if we don't owe them for the work they have done in the mines and the promises that Senator Manchin mentioned, we also owe so many of them for serving our country the way they did. This is about retirement security. In my State alone, 6,800 Ohioans are covered and will be betrayed if we don't do our work, if the Senate doesn't do its job.…”