Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak about a piece of legislation just introduced, S. 3849, the Job Preservation for Parents in Poverty Act, which is simply an extension of a program that has placed tens of thousands of people into jobs in this recession and is working. We want to make sure it is extended because of how effective it has been to help people find and keep jobs. This legislation is fully offset. I wish to spend a couple minutes talking about the provisions that make it so effective. First, I thank a number of Senators who have led the fight--Senator Kerry, as well as our assistant majority leader, Senator Durbin, for the work they have done, as well as others--and for the testimony we received from people across the country. I know in my case one person who spent a good deal of time making it clear to me and to others across southern Pennsylvania and even across the State about the effectiveness of this program was Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia who, like any mayor in the country in the middle of a recession, doesn't have the luxury of dealing with programs that don't work. He can only support and endorse programs that are working to create jobs. In a city such as Philadelphia, which still has a high unemployment rate, Mayor Nutter has relied upon this program, which is a rapid attachment effort to create jobs and keep people in those jobs. We know the unemployment rates are intolerably too high.…”