Archive: 2009

“The Senate’s passage of the omnibus appropriations bill completes the appropriations bills that the previous Administration delayed and rejects the deep cuts affecting our children, our workers, and our economy that President Bush proposed. Congress can now focus its full attention on continued aggressive action to strengthen our economy and create jobs, to reform our health care system to reduce costs and increase coverage, to move our nation toward energy independence, and to modernize education to foster innovation and competitiveness in the global economy.”

“It’s clear that we have to stabilize our financial institutions. We have to invest in a stimulus plan to grow our economy. We have to regulate our financial institutions and we have to end the housing crisis. And the Obama Administration has already done just that.”

Today, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in the House and Senate – legislation that would help enable workers to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions by restoring their rights to form unions. Speaker Pelosi: The right to organize… Continue

“The right to organize and bargain collectively is essential if American workers are going to receive fair wages, decent hours, safe workplace conditions, and health coverage to protect them and their families. The Employee Free Choice Act protects every worker’s right to join a union if they wish to help ensure better pay and benefits.”

“Key Democrats in Congress plan to try to pass legislation to expand government funding for embryonic stem cell research, in an attempt to cement into law a policy President Obama established on Monday.”

“The National Farmers Union has been in the lead every step of the way – from supporting our efforts to pass comprehensive energy legislation last year to being a leader among your peers in demanding a role for agriculture in cap-and-trade legislation.”

“Last year, I was proud to lead a congressional delegation to India where we were able to meet with His Holiness in Dharamsala, India. This visit – by coincidence or karma – occurred after the protests that swept across the Tibetan plateau and the subsequent crackdown by Chinese authorities.”

“Today, I am proud to be joined by Majority Leader Hoyer, who will be with us momentarily, Congressman John Carter, Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz, Congressman Dave Reichert, Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, Congressman Chris Carney, VA Undersecretary Admiral Patrick Dunne, CAO Dan Beard; and Patricia Orsini, director of the Wounded Warrior Program as we announce the hiring of the first nine of the 25 wounded warriors who will continue to serve America as staff members in Congress.”

“By lifting the executive ban on federal funding for stem cell research, President Obama has given hope, and potentially health, to millions. Every family in America is just one diagnosis, one phone call, or one accident away from needing the benefits of embryonic stem cell research.”

“Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced yesterday that nearly $44 billion in federal stimulus aid to schools will be available to states in the next 30 to 45 days — soon enough, education officials hope, to prevent hundreds of thousands of layoffs nationwide and program cuts that would hit home in schools across the Washington region.”