Political Quotes

“I am hoping that we will be able to pass a COVID relief bill before Christmas. As the leader has said earlier, we don't need to resolve all of our differences to pass a bill. We can pass targeted legislation that focuses on the priorities that we all agree need to be addressed. As the leader pointed out earlier this morning on the floor, Republicans here in the Senate have tried repeatedly, going back to last summer, to move legislation that is targeted, that is fiscally responsible, and that addresses the key needs that are being experienced and the challenges that are being felt by the American people during the pandemic. In fact, as recently as October, we had a majority of U.S. Senators here on the floor that attempted to get on a bill--a targeted, fiscally responsible bill--that addressed the needs that our small businesses have, with additional funding for the PPP program; that provided an extension for unemployment insurance for people who were unemployed; that provided funding for vaccine distribution; that also provided funding for frontline workers and, I should add, funding for schools and universities. It was a very targeted, fiscally responsible bill. It was voted on here in the Senate not only once but twice. Both in September and October, we brought a bill to the floor and couldn't even get on it because the Democratic leadership decided to block that bill. So we didn't even have a debate.…”