Political Quotes

“Hopefully, in a few minutes we will have word on some sort of final agreement as we move forward. I know we are making progress in terms of the negotiations. I hope we can advance this bill through the Senate. It is very disappointing that we have all of the politics above and before an excellent, superb policy that has good evidence behind it. I want to respond to my colleague who talked about the waivers and the potential for abuse and money channeled to other populations. We have to make it clear that this is not a block grant. This isn't money that can be used for any purpose whatsoever. The great thing about this bill is the money that is being directed--that 7 percent of Federal dollars--still goes to the stated purpose, with the stated accountability guaranteed by the bill. This whole hypothetical that these States with waivers can take this money and rechannel it away from targeted goals is really absurd. If we look at the history, this isn't hypothetical policy. We can look back and see what the 12 States have done, including the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. These waivers have not been abused.”