Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3771, the Philippines Charitable Giving Assistance Act. As the Democratic cochair of the U.S.-Philippines Friendship Caucus, I commend all of the sponsors of the bill who came together to support this legislation. The United States and the Philippines have had a very close relationship for more than 100 years. The gentleman from California has outlined the support of the military, and the United States has been one of the Philippines' top trading partners and one of the largest foreign investors. Furthermore, there are over 3 million Americans of Filipino ancestry in the United States today. In light of the close friendship that the United States and the Philippines enjoy, it is even more important that we rise to the occasion of supporting our friends in the Philippines as they continue to recover from Typhoon Haiyan. Last November, the typhoon ravaged the Philippines' coast and was the strongest recorded storm ever to make landfall. Sixteen million people were affected, 4 million were displaced, and tens of thousands of lives were lost during the devastating storm. While the response of both the United States and the international community has been strong and unified, more can obviously be done.…”