Political Quotes

“Reserving the right to object. Mr. President and colleagues, sadly, this is the third time I have had to come to the Senate floor to object to Republican proposals dealing with far-fetched claims about vaccines. And today I am struck by one issue in particular because my background is working with senior citizens. I was the director of the Gray Panthers at home for almost 7 years. I ran the legal aid office for the elderly. I went into public service because of my passion for the cause of the elderly and trying to protect their well-being and keeping them safe. It is almost as if this unanimous consent request ignores the extraordinary human toll COVID-19 took on senior citizens in nursing homes across the country: nearly 200,000 dead in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities since the beginning of the pandemic-- mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. That is roughly 1 in 10 residents in those nursing facilities, according to an analysis of State and Federal data by the COVID tracking project. How many of those senior citizens died alone, without being able to spend their final hours or days with their loved ones? How many others of those fortunate enough to survive the pandemic were still separated from their family members for months and months and months in 2020? We also know that the risks to nurses and doctor and EMTs were massive as well.…”