Political Quotes

“I rise to express my extreme disappointment that the Senate has been blocked from moving forward on this critical legislation. There are about 1.5 million Americans who have lost their unemployment insurance since December 28. Every week 70,000 more lose that protection, so my disappointment is severe. But their situation is much more desperate. We had within our power today the ability to move this Senate forward to help our people, to help people who only qualified for the program because they worked and because they are still looking for work in one of the most difficult job markets we have seen in many decades. It is extremely urgent that we act and today we failed to act. We have to continue to move forward. The majority leader has procedurally put us in a position so we can call up this measure again very quickly. We have to continue to work toward a solution. We have to keep the economy moving forward and creating jobs. That was what this was about, giving people some modest support each week. But also, as the CBO estimated, this measure, if extended for the full year, would generate 200,000 additional jobs. That is, on average, about what we have been creating each month. In fact, I will remind my colleagues, last year's unemployment insurance benefits were unpaid for and they generated additional jobs, not only providing benefits to people who needed it and were searching for work but increased economic activity in the country, which put people to work.…”