Political Quotes

“before I begin my remarks, I want to make sure that everyone understands that Senator Murray has been on this floor hour after hour for a reason; that is, these nominations are enormously important. This one is right at the heart of what families and parents and communities want because it deals with education. I heard that again this weekend. I had three townhall meetings, mostly in rural areas. We had record turnouts. As Senator Murray knows, Oregon and Washington have been pounded in the last few weeks with bad weather--had to fly all night to get back for this debate. Everybody said how important this was because they understand what Betsy DeVos, if she is confirmed, would mean for our country. I want to start by putting a focus on this issue around what Oregonians are particularly concerned about this morning. They are concerned, when we talk about education, about boosting our high school graduation rates. Parents, teachers, and communities are all mobilized. I want to start my remarks by saying that I know people across the country are concerned about this. We worked very closely with Senator Murray and Senator Alexander on this. The reason that Oregonians feel so strongly is that we have been first in so many areas, for example, protecting our natural treasures, but we are not where we want to be in terms of high school graduation rates.…”