Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the majority leader says there is important work for the Senate to do, and I can think of one urgent thing we could do today if the majority leader would consent. The House has passed the reauthorization of the Debbie Smith Act. To remind colleagues, this is money Congress appropriated to the Department of Justice for grants to local law enforcement agencies and forensic labs to test unprocessed rape kits. This is a national scandal, the number of unprocessed rape kits which have prevented law enforcement from identifying a serial perpetrator of sexual assault, many sometimes not just involving adults but also children. The House has passed the reauthorization of that bill. All it takes is for the majority leader and the Senate to consent to take up that bill today and pass it to get it to the President's desk. I think that, perhaps, is the most important and most urgent thing we could be doing right now. So I ask the majority leader if he would consent to taking up that bill and passing it in the Senate right now.”