Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, let me thank the chairman for the time and to the two managers of this particular legislation on the floor, particularly to the ranking member for his leadership, and simply ask the question: For those of us who have served in this body the time when the unfunded mandate's original legislation was passed, what possible addition this particular amendment can have? Let me first start off by saying that I appreciate the good intentions of work that is brought to the floor of the House; but I want to remind my colleagues that, as we speak, the growing numbers of the uninsured continue to rise, and the emergency unemployment insurance has not been passed by this body. In fact, not passing unemployment insurance is an unfunded mandate. For what we do is we say to the States that 1.3-1.5 million-plus, including family members, of individuals who have worked and who are out every day looking for work are no longer the responsibility of anyone here in the Federal Government. After the States have maxed out on their 26 weeks, we simply throw these people into the streets. I would imagine that States and nonprofits may have to address their needs through homeless shelters, through food banks, soup kitchens, and other municipality resources that they can scramble together. It is interesting that we are here discussing an unfunded mandate. As we speak, millions of Americans are suffering because we have refused to address an important issue.…”