Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown our country into a nightmare level crisis of joblessness. The Congress has not done enough to stop it and has not done enough to save the jobs of our people. I have come to the floor this evening to call for the Senate to pass legislation that is all about saving the public sector jobs that form the backbone of our local communities, our firefighters, our first responders, our teachers, our families, and so many others. They need our help. They need it now. Senate Democrats have been warning since March that when COVID-19 cases exploded and our economy went into lockdown, our States, our cities, and our towns are now facing budgetary disasters unlike any they have gone through in recent memory. The shortfalls that State and local governments are facing due to the pandemic make the great recession look like a modest little economic hiccup. Layoffs are now happening at nightmarish levels. In March, April, and May, there were 1.5 million job losses. Among these key individuals were the firefighters, the first responders, our public employees, folks who teach our kids, work in public health, emergency response, and play a key role in maintaining our roads and highways. I am just going to take a few minutes to run through some specific examples of why Senate Democrats think this is so important.…”