Political Quotes

“I wish to thank my colleagues for joining me on the floor today to stand with American workers. We organized a group of close to a dozen Senators who have heartfelt and strong views about the dignity of work, who understand so well that workers are working harder and smarter but earn less and less money, in spite of their hard work, in spite of their commitment. I have been joined on the floor already by Senator Schumer from New York, Senator Murray from Washington State, Senator Duckworth from Illinois, Senator Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Casey from Pennsylvania, and Senator Peters from Michigan, and speaking after I speak will be Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Senator Merkley of Oregon and Senator Durbin of Illinois. I thank them for standing up for American workers. People in Ohio and around the country, as I said, work harder, and they work longer than ever, but they have less and less to show for it. Over the last 40 years, GDP has gone up, corporate profits have gone up, executives' salaries have gone up all because of the productivity of American workers. Again, GDP goes up, corporate profits go up, executive salaries explode upward. Workers are more productive, but workers have not shared in the economic growth they have created. Hard work just doesn't pay off like it did a generation ago. It is no coincidence that over that same timeframe, we have seen attack after attack after attack on the labor movement.…”