Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Senator Brown of Ohio and I have offered this amendment which will extend the eligibility period for the COBRA Premium Assistance Program until November 30. We appreciate the support of many Senators--Senators Franken, Stabenow, Reed, Leahy, Akaka, Begich, Whitehouse, Lautenberg, Kerry, Wyden, Harkin, Levin, Burris, the Presiding Officer, Gillibrand, Kaufman, Specter, Menendez, Merkley, Schumer, Mikulski, Dodd, Durbin, Murray, Shaheen, Rockefeller, and Boxer. All are cosponsors of the original amendment we offered the other day, first offered by Senator Brown and me as an amendment to Senator Baucus's original amendment. I thank Senator Baucus, the Chair of our Finance Committee, for his very hard work on this bill. We are nearing the end. We are working very hard to complete this bill. As we do that, we are also mindful that we are recovering from this economic recession. We must continue, in my judgment, to support vital safety net programs that our citizens need to support their own families. The national unemployment rate now stands at 9.7 percent. That translates in Pennsylvania into more than 584,000 people out of work. We got a report today that across the country, jobless claims are going up, unfortunately, after having gone down for a number of months. The economy is showing improvement. We are recovering. Jobs are being added every day.…”