Political Quotes

“I applaud the work Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Lowey and their staffs put towards drafting legislation to fund the federal government. Sadly, I cannot support the finished product due to extraneous provisions that have no business being in an appropriations bill. These riders, included at the last minute with no debate and no input from Democratic members, circumvent the will of American voters, harm retirees, put taxpayer dollars at risk, and allow a privileged few to have even more influence over our elections. These extraneous provisions have nothing to do with funding the government. Instead, they will cut benefits to seniors and roll back critical Dodd-Frank provisions to protect taxpayer dollars. They will also increase the amount of money that special interests, private corporations, and wealthy donors can spend on political conventions and other election activities, when we know that more money in politics is not the solution, it's the problem. Rhode Islanders are still recovering from the financial crisis of 2008, and I cannot in vote for a return to the status quo, which helped bring about the crisis in the first place. The derivatives provision is a Christmas gift to big banks at the expense of American taxpayers. It would remove restrictions included in Dodd-Frank that prevent these banks from gambling with our constituents' money by using taxpayer- insured bank deposits in risky derivatives transactions.…”