Patty Murray

We need to bring down everyday costs for the basics, like groceries, and gas, and more, that so many families are struggling with today.

The Federal minimum wage has been frozen since 2009, at the rate of $7.25 cents per hour.

I think as a country we have to look and see, and realign what we do with child care.

Workers deserve to be safe at work.

We have to really be really intentional about it.

The child care crisis is holding our economy back.

It really is our job to protect those workers and make sure they are properly paid for their work.

I have put forward a plan that will lower child care costs for families across the country by thousands of a year.

I hope we can all agree it is critical to continue strengthening our economy, building off the progress we made thanks to the American Rescue Plan, and last year's appropriations bills.

Cutting benefits is not an option.

Significantly, expanding Federal student aid, including doubling the Pell Grant, is a big part of a solution to that

Our Nation's students have been through a lot in the past few years, as you well know, and it has done a lot of harm to their learning, their mental health, their development.

I think it is incumbent upon all of us to remember the names of those students that you said out loud and our job here to make sure that students like them across the Nation get the kind of help and support they need from the Federal…

I am going to continue to keep pushing to make sure that every child in this country receives a safe, high quality public education.

I want to thank you, Secretary Cardona, for a very thoughtful discussion about how we can support our students and our educators and our schools.

Three in five higher education students face housing or food insecurity, and two in five students drop out of college, do so because of financial pressures

I am ready to work with any Republican to make any kind of meaningful change here...

None of them should be worried about where they are going to get their next meal or how they are going to put a roof over their head

We have rising caseloads, large backlog.

We need to make sure that our kids and everyone in our communities get the help they need.

I believe prioritizing our kids and making sure everyone of them receives a great public education...

We have to pass common sense gun safety reforms. There is no getting around it.

When a mass shooting happens everywhere, this isn't just a school problem, it is a gun problem.

But there is more work ahead to address the challenges this pandemic has exposed and exacerbated...

It is why I pushed so hard in our recent bipartisan funding bill to make the largest increase...