Political Quotes

“it was 30 years ago to this very day that I came here to give one of my first speeches on the Senate floor, and I talked about a friend of mine back in Washington State. She was a mom. She had just gotten heartbreaking news. Her son was dying of leukemia. And then another gut punch: Her employer told her she had to choose between being in the hospital with her son or being at her job, and if she wasn't there, she was going to lose it. To this day, that makes me so angry. No one should face such a cruel decision. No one should ever be forced to choose between taking care of themselves and their loved ones and being able to make ends meet. So at the time, 30 years ago, I was on the floor to urge my colleagues to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, which provided job-protected, unpaid leave to workers across the country, because the bottom line was that every worker should know that if they have a family emergency, they can prioritize their family's health without jeopardizing their family's economic security. I was so thrilled when, just a few days later, we won, and that bill became law. But even back then, it was clear that bill was just a first step. It was clear we needed to keep fighting for the next one. And I am still here, and I am still fighting because we are way behind where we should be. We are way behind our peers in the world when it comes to giving working families the support they need, and it is holding us back.…”