Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding and thank you for organizing this Special Order hour and for the power of your voice on this very important issue and for the work that you have done in your early days here in Congress. I thank your constituents for sending you here to fight, particularly to fight on behalf of the middle class and for the families who are really struggling in this still-recovering economy. I want to just spend a few moments tonight to speak about the expired unemployment insurance issue and the unwillingness of our friends on the other side of the aisle to address this issue, and the notion that we are going to leave tomorrow and go back home for a week, take another recess, without addressing this urgent issue which is impacting my State, the State of Rhode Island, but impacting Americans all across this country. What is so frustrating about the refusal to extend emergency unemployment benefits is that, first, it puts families in a very, very difficult position. These are folks who are looking for work, who are struggling to make ends meet as they navigate a difficult job market, who have relied on unemployment compensation, modest assistance to help put food on the table, to pay their bills, to keep a roof over their head, and have now seen their unemployment insurance cut off. This is impacting 1.5 million Americans, so far, and it will impact about 72,000 additional Americans every single week.…”