Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to start my remarks on healthcare and what is ahead over the next couple of weeks in this way. For almost 7 years before I got elected to the Congress, I was the director of the Oregon Gray Panthers, which is a senior citizens group, and I ran a legal aid office for the elderly. I made the judgment then that healthcare was and always would be the most important issue. I made that judgment because I have always felt that if you and your loved ones do not have their health, then pretty much everything else does not matter. The Presiding Officer of the Senate, of course, is a skilled healthcare provider and knows a lot about these issues, and I am really going to use that as my reference point today in making the judgment that having quality, affordable healthcare for your families and yourselves is paramount to everything else. My view is that the proposal being considered here in the Senate of cutting hundreds of billions of dollars in funds from the social safety net--the Medicaid Program, which is the lifeline for seniors and kids with special needs and for the disabled--is going to put at risk the health and well-being of millions of Americans if it is passed. It is why I want to take some time to explain what it actually does so that people all across this country will be in a position to make their voices heard--to speak up, to do their part--so that when this debate comes to the floor of the U.S.…”