Political Quotes

“Thank you, Chairman Scott, for yielding the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3040, the Senior Financial Empowerment Act of 2009. My own experience as the primary caregiver for my grandmother opened my eyes to some troubling exploitative tactics targeted at America's seniors. Growing up in Wisconsin, I was raised by my maternal grandparents. Though I went east for college, I returned to my hometown, Madison, after graduation to be there for my grandmother, who by then was widowed and who had sacrificed so much of her own time and energy to raise me. Eventually, I became my grandmother's primary caregiver. Around the time that my grandmother turned 90 years old, she asked me to help her sort through her mail and balance her checkbook. Now, first, I was struck by the sheer volume of solicitations she was getting. I was also shocked by how many were fly-by-night organizations or ``look alike'' charities that were writing her on a monthly basis. Their pleas for donations looked and sounded legitimate, but I had my suspicions, so I started digging a little bit deeper. I was also disturbed by the amount of money my grandmother had been giving to some of these entities. She believed that those who were able to do so ought to be as generous as possible to those in need, but she had no way of determining the legitimacy of the entities that were contacting her and soliciting her so regularly.…”