Political Quotes

“I came before the Chamber yesterday and made the case as to why Congress needs to begin negotiations on another COVID-19 emergency supplemental bill and to do it now. The needs are real. They are immediate. In fact, when the House passed the Heroes Act, we should have begun those negotiations in the first week after it had passed it, but we didn't. We should have begun the negotiations in the second week after it had passed it, but we didn't. We should have begun the negotiations in the third week after it had passed it, but we didn't--and the fourth and the fifth and the sixth. Every day, I talk with Vermonters, sometimes hundreds at a time in statewide conference calls. From small businesses, to families, to schools, to hospitals, to Federal employees, I hear their urgent needs. So I want to talk today about just one of those urgent needs--funding for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS. It plays an important role in our Nation's immigration system. It processes requests for immigration benefits, American citizenship, and it screens asylum seekers. The agency is staffed by more than 19,000 dedicated men and women across the country, including roughly 1,700 in my home State of Vermont. Last Friday, furlough notices were sent out to 13,350 of the 19,000 USCIS employees. They are effective next month, on August 3. That is just 4 weeks from now.…”