Political Quotes

“I rise today to remember Richard Schweiker, who passed away on July 31, 2015. Congressman, Senator, and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Dick Schweiker honorably served his country in public office for more than two decades. Prior to his years of government service, he served his country in the Navy during World War II. As a Congressman from Pennsylvania's 13th District, he was the coauthor of a House Armed Services Committee proposal to end the military draft and make service voluntary and sponsored legislation to allow the government to give extra money to military service personnel if they showed they could reduce expenses. He also supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 along with legislation that created the Medicare and Medicaid Programs. As a Senator, he served on the Labor and Human Resources Committee, eventually becoming its ranking member. This committee is now known as the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on which I serve. Senator Schweiker was a strong supporter of public health initiatives, including the National Diabetes Mellitus Research and Education Act that authorized the National Commission on Diabetes to put together a plan to fight this disease. Dick Schweiker also worked to achieve compromise. In a 2000 Associated Press interview, he commented on that approach: I was a World War II veteran. Our primary objective was to get things done and solve problems.…”