Political Quotes

“I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy and I appreciate his leadership and tenacity in terms of trying to help our beleaguered neighborhood restaurants. Mr. Speaker, our friends on the other side of the aisle--even if they got their dream piece of legislation--would not make any difference on the price of gasoline this year or next year. We are dealing with global supply. One of the things that will make a difference to break the grip that we have with the oligarchs and the sheikhs is being able to deal with renewable energy that is not going to hold us hostage. We have seen remarkable progress that is made. I am sad that our friends on the other side of the aisle have been resistant to these innovations in terms of solar, wind, electrification, the things that will really make a difference today and tomorrow and help fight the crisis that we face with climate change and global warming. This legislation will make a difference to 177,000 small neighborhood restaurants and other distressed businesses. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, these neighborhood facilities have been the hardest hit. You have heard already that they were subject to over 4 million jobs lost in the first few months of the pandemic. The unemployment in the restaurant industry remains stubbornly high, and approximately 90,000 restaurants have permanently closed since the start of the pandemic. We have heard from countless others that are teetering on the edge.…”