Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Landrieu and also Senators Merkley and Cantwell, who spoke before me, for the extraordinarily hard work they have put in to bring us to this moment. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work against what was for a long time unanimous Republican opposition. We couldn't get this done because we couldn't get one vote from a single Republican to help small business through our community banks. Thankfully, Senator LeMieux has broken the ice. Now we are in a position to go forward. There may well still be significant parliamentary maneuvers by the other side to slow it down and delay it rather than have it go smoothly, as it should. The situation in Rhode Island is pretty dire. We are a small business State, and we have more than 12 percent unemployment. The situation in which that takes place is the one my colleagues have described. The big banks are hoarding cash. They have been given access to the Treasury, and they are borrowing money at extremely favorable rates, but it is not filtering out. It is being invested for their own account, building up their balance sheets, not getting through to businesses, particularly not to small businesses. The big corporations are hoarding cash. That is putting pressure on employment and on small business.”