Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I think this issue is in the larger scheme of things, as we talk about our national budget, certainly not a huge sum of resources or money, but the most important thing we do in this Chamber is to decide how to use the resources available to us. I am struck by the fact that last weekend when I was in my district, I met with a veteran who shared with me his concern that currently, when he went to the VA to get his prescriptions filled, he pays a $2 co-pay for his prescription, and that is likely to be increased to $7 per prescription. He shared with me that he takes 12 prescriptions a month. Going from a $2 copay to a $7 copay is a 250 percent increase for veterans in order for them to be able to get the medicines they need. Mr. Chairman, we make choices around here all the time about how we are going to use our resources. I have another constituent in my district who wrote me, saying that they had a child who was very ill and on oxygen, and they are struggling to keep their electricity from being cut off because they have been unable to pay their electricity bills. Again, we make choices up here about how we are going to use our resources. Now we want to use military funds to pay for the electricity bill at the Vice President's home.”