Press Releases

“The report demonstrates that health care reform has strengthened Medicare by extending its solvency; a report today from the Department of Health and Human Services confirms that the Affordable Care Act has also increased benefits and reduced costs for seniors under Medicare, just as Democrats intended it to."

"'A college education is the single best investment an individual can make in themselves, a parent can make in their child, and a nation can make in its citizens. Yet if Republicans don't act, interest rates are set to double this July, and more than seven million borrowers will find themselves paying more. In this time of economic hardship, we should be helping make college more affordable, not putting it further out of reach."

"Too often, the environment - from clean air and clean water to the drive for innovation - has come under direct attack by our Republican colleagues. Yet the future of our environment must not fall prey to partisan political games. We must work together to reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, promote and develop renewable sources of energy, lower emissions, and build on Americans' extraordinary success in conservation."

"This week the Republican policies have run into criticism from some of their friends, their traditional allies, for the triple threat that they pose to the economy. Former Reagan Economic Advisor Bruce Bartlett says, the Republican tax giveaway to the rich and famous will, quote: 'do nothing whatsoever to increase employment and should not be taken seriously.' The Wall Street Journal, their good friend, calls it “a gimmick and a ploy” and says that 'their proposal would lead to malinvestment and other economic distortion.' And the U.S. Conference of Bishops says the Republican budget doesn't meet their moral criteria. They say in their statement, 'government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic times. And just solutions, however, must require shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues.'"

"Republican priorities are clear: give more tax breaks to the wealthy, Big Oil and companies that ship American jobs overseas, and leave the middle class behind. Today, those priorities were front and center. First, Republicans blocked a vote on the ‘Buffett rule,' opposing Democrats' effort to fix a stark tax inequity and ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. Then Republicans voted to hand another tax giveaway to the rich and famous - a measure that balloons the deficit by $46 billion and does nothing to create jobs."

"On this solemn occasion, we stand with families of all those persecuted, attacked, and brutally murdered for who they were. We pledge to speak out and act wherever prejudice persists, human rights are threatened, and lives are at risk. We carry on the message of those forever silenced: to never forget their story and to never stand idly by in the face of injustice."

"I'm proud of the accomplishments of the Democratic-led Congress on behalf of equal pay and fairness. The Lilly Ledbetter Act -- the first bill President Obama signed into law --restored the right of women and other workers to challenge unfair pay in court. Further, under the Affordable Care Act, soon women will no longer be charged higher premiums than men for the same coverage and no longer will being a woman be treated as a pre-existing condition."

"Americans have made it clear over and over again, it has been a constant message: we must work together to create jobs and grow our economy. We must preserve the economic security of our seniors, the middle class, and small business owners. This is all the backbone of the middle class, the backbone of our democracy. We must protect Medicare and not dismantle it. And yet, Mr. Speaker, our Republican colleagues are at it again."