Political Quotes

“I bring this bipartisan amendment to the floor tonight because I think it illustrates a point Senator Lott expressed earlier when he talked about updating our laws to make sure they are fair and practical for the times. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act, which this amendment speaks to, has been a great asset to folks who have been laid off in the manufacturing sector. It was written more than three decades ago. Of course, that was the key sector in our economy and still is tremendously important today, but the fact is, the trade adjustment law today doesn't apply to about four-fifths of our workers, the folks who have been laid off in the service sector and in the high-technology sector. So what we have is millions of unemployed workers in the service sector and in the high-tech sector who are walking on an economic tightrope every single day, balancing their food costs against their fuel costs, and their fuel costs against the skyrocketing medical bills, as Senator Kennedy has pointed out. What this bipartisan amendment seeks to do is establish parity between folks in the service and technology sector and those in the manufacturing sector.”