Political Quotes

“I close by way of saying that I came to the floor some time ago to ask unanimous consent to make sure that this weekend, when millions of people are hurting--remember, the suffering starts in 2 days. It starts on Saturday--2 days in Florida, in Oregon, in Wyoming, and all over the country. Mitch McConnell's response was: Let's take a break; we can take off. He didn't seem to see those hurting people in Kentucky. Maybe they will have something to say to him this weekend. I will tell you, I think it is a big mistake for Senate Republicans to have frittered away weeks on end, when we could have had a dialogue and we could have talked about ideas. The Presiding Officer has talked to me a number of times since he has been here about healthcare. I enjoy talking to my colleagues and working on ideas to try to find a way to address concerns and solve problems. There wasn't one single effort--not one--to pick up on any of the ideas that I have been discussing here. In fact, I tried to reach out to colleagues on the other side and told them that I heard them say repeatedly that benefits should taper down as the unemployment rate goes down. Well, that is the heart of our bill on this side. The hurt and pain that working families are going to face this Saturday and Sunday--2 days from now--did not have to happen. It didn't have to happen. Our side has a bill to work on. The other side, I gather, has some ideas.…”