Political Quotes

“Madam President, a number of our Democratic colleagues have come to the floor and spoken here and elsewhere about the importance of providing assistance to State and local governments and that if that doesn't happen, there are going to be police officers and first responders and people who have essential jobs that we rely on every single day and for whom we are so grateful who wouldn't be able to get paid. I would just point out that already, as part of the coronavirus relief measures that Congress has passed, there was $150 billion sent to State and local governments, much of which has yet to be spent and, frankly, much of which we don't know what the actual need is out there until we have a better sense of what the revenue loss is to a lot of our State and local governments. Clearly, they are sounding the alarm, and they are justifiably worried about what happens if the downturn in the economy continues and what that might mean to their revenues. They are looking to Washington, DC, for assistance. I think that, as I said earlier, in the CARES package, there was $150 billion that went out to State and local governments. There have been concerns about how those funds can be used. It was stipulated that they had to be used for COVID-related expenses, and many State and local leaders were concerned that that did not give them the flexibility that they needed to meet other types of needs.…”