Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Pennsylvania. I agree with him that this bill has as broad a public support as you get on a trade bill, a bill that deals directly with tariffs and trade relationships and manufacturing and help for workers who are laid off and help both with training dollars and with health care dollars and health care tax incentives. It is supported--that is why it passed, I believe, by a voice vote in the House of Representatives last night, meaning nobody spoke out against it when it was passed overwhelmingly by voice vote. There may have been a few scattered ``nos.'' I am not even sure there was that. The ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, who will be chairman, Congressman Camp, from Michigan, was supporting it. The Ways and Means outgoing chairman, also from Michigan, Congressman Levin, also supported this. The AFL-CIO supports it. The National Retail Federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recognize this is good for the country. That is why I am so hopeful my colleagues will not block this legislation. One person standing up in this Chamber and blocking legislation because it is late in the year--I do not know if they are trying to cut some deal or what the reason is they would use for blocking it. But forget the politics of the support for it around the country, but look what it does that is so important: trade adjustment assistance. Since 2009, 367,000 workers were certified eligible for TAA, trade adjustment assistance.…”