Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi) for yielding. He has done a great job of really making Congress aware and the American public aware of just how important the Jones Act is to our country. There have been a lot of misconceptions out there, a lot of reports on the news that were just quick to pick up on a sound bite. But the fact of the matter is, when you talk about trade, when you talk about taxes, labor, and other things that you have added, national security, it is the Jones Act that is keeping all of those things going strong in America. I just really appreciate the gentleman doing that. When we talk about middle class jobs in this country, there has been a lot of talk in this country about how we have lost a lot of middle class jobs over the last 20 years. {time} 1845 These jobs, because of the Jones Act, have been protected, and we need to make sure that we keep those jobs here in America going strong. I am so glad that the gentleman also cleared up the confusion about what was really going on in relation to Puerto Rico, that American ships were doing what they were supposed to be doing, and that there were other issues on why people weren't getting supplies. The American public needs to know that. When the gentleman starts talking about minimum wage, middle class wages, obviously, the Merchant Marines, the mariners out there who work on these cargo and container ships, help keep that middle class strong in America.…”