Political Quotes

“Madam President, before my colleague leaves, let me just tell him what a wonderful speech he gave. That was the kind of talk we dreamed of back in the days when I was the director of the Oregon Gray Panthers. What Senator King has basically laid out--much more eloquently than I could have--is that what Senator Casey's legislation is doing is giving older Americans the opportunity to get more of what they want--good quality care at home at a price that doesn't begin to approach the alternative that Senator King is talking about with institutional care. So I want to commend him for it. It reminds me of my Gray Panther days. It was a great speech. To my friend Senator Casey, I have been so proud to be a part of this effort because, as you and I have talked about, this is what we always hoped for. This was always the long-term agenda of advocates for seniors. I just want to tell the Presiding Officer and colleagues who are following this that Senator Casey has been everywhere on behalf of this cause. You have shown up at virtually every caucus meeting to say how important it is. You have come to our Finance Committee to stress it to colleagues on a bipartisan basis. We go together to rallies. You have been, basically, everywhere on this, and that, of course, is one of the reasons we are here on the floor--because it was your effort that did so much to get it into our bill.…”