Bob Casey

Chairman Collins, thanks very much. And, again, thank you for holding this hearing.

I know that Senator Casey has introduced the ABLE Adjustment Act which will begin to increase the age provision by law.

Having a disability is nothing to be ashamed of; it is part of the human condition.

What other group of law-abiding citizens can be paid a sub-minimum wage just because of who they are?

Imagine any other group where seven of ten people did not have jobs, and I think people might take to the streets.

Thank you, Chairman Collins.

This has been one of the toughest pieces of legislation that made the most common sense of anything I have tackled in the time that I have been here.

Some have called the ABLE Act the 'most significant piece of legislation affecting the disabled since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act almost 30 years ago.'

You can add mine to that.

Congress has removed some of the barriers to savings in order to plan for the future.

People with disabilities are less likely to be employed and much more likely to be underemployed.

We want to explore today the economic health of people with disabilities and, of course, their families as they age.

Chairman Collins, thank you very much for holding this hearing.

TIGER/BUILD is a vital program for port infrastructure both inside the gate and to support the connecting road and rail infrastructure.

Thanks for laying all of that out.

It is rare when a group of constituents from any State comes up to you and says, 'Charge us more.'

I was disappointed is an understatement that Director Mulvaney did not ask for additional appropriated funds to address the shortfall.

I have had major legislation on this that focuses on this problem.

Yes, and finally, so if companies like Deloitte and other significant companies know that paid family leave is good for profits, good for employee retention, good for productivity, good for morale, it should be good for anybody else?

Is it not also an opportunity to create a more level playing field for small businesses so that they can actually compete with the talent that Googles and Facebooks are able to afford?

I want to thank the witnesses for your testimony today and for the highlighting of this critically important issue.

It is bad for children in school. It is bad for small businesses. It is also bad for health care.

In those areas, you can go into counties where it is 40, 50, even 60 percent of the people living in the county do not have access to high speed Internet.

On the consumer demand side, I am less optimistic about opportunities to contain cost growth without doing harm.

The Trump administration announced recently that it was going to get out of the business of defending protections for Americans with preexisting conditions.