Political Quotes

“I wish to join Chairman Levin in his plea that we be allowed to consider this legislation. The greatest crisis we face in the United States, for families all across the country, is jobs. The President has proposed a bill that is going to help us begin to deal with that job crisis, and he proposed a way to pay for it. An overwhelming portion of the country, the polling is definite, supports the President's proposal and our proposal, as modified by Senator Reid, to have a surcharge on individuals making over $1 million. So we have a bill that responds to the greatest need, that is paid for by doing what the American people overwhelmingly want us to do, and we cannot get it on the floor for debate, for amendment, and finally for passage. We are not able to respond to this crisis because we have been frustrated by our colleagues who refuse to let us take up the bill. The American people are demanding we act--the message is being sent far and wide in many different mediums--and we get it directly from home, and it is: Do something. It might not be perfect. It might not solve the problem immediately. But do something. Do not just stop debate, stop progress, stop discussion on the issues that are so critical to this country. Again, we are in a serious jobs crisis. We have seen the latest job report showing some sort of improvement but not enough, and we have to do more.…”