Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman. Listening to the last speaker, I believe that the other side of the aisle has got a case of amnesia because I was here in 2007 and 2011 when they had the majority in the House, the majority in the Senate, and the Presidency, and they did nothing. Well, that's not true. In fact, the last speaker, the gentleman from Oregon, he was the chair of the Highway Subcommittee; and we passed a bill by voice vote out of the subcommittee, a Democratic version. Voice vote. That means it came out of subcommittee in a bipartisan way. Now, there was a lot in that bill I didn't like. But it was probably what the gentleman from Oregon, the last speaker, and the majority party wanted to do was to expand government control of the highway system, expand the decision-making process to the bureaucrats in Washington instead of allowing the people in the States to make more of those decisions. So it's startling to me to hear the criticism and insults hurled at our side of the aisle. I do take offense to the fact that he said we hate America. We love America. We love the American people and the wisdom of the American people and the wisdom of those in State government to make decisions, also. I believe there is a national role in the transportation system in this country. It is a national policy. It's based on our founding. It's our history. We've always been part of this national system. So I want to pass a bill, a 5-year bill.…”