Political Quotes

“I am glad the junior Senator from Alaska is in the Chair because I am going to be discussing things that are of great concern to Alaskans and really to those who care about the rule of law here and how it applies throughout all 50 States fairly and evenly. As I mentioned just a bit ago, I have offered an amendment that would deal with how wilderness study areas are treated. My proposal is one that would put a time limitation on these study areas. I mentioned the amendment was precipitated by the President's announcement this weekend about additional areas of wilderness to be designated in Alaska. I have cited two. The 1980 lands bill, ANILCA--I think it is good for us to have a little bit of a refresher on what ANILCA actually did. In one fell swoop ANILCA designated nearly 60 million acres of wilderness in the State of Alaska. That is pretty substantial. It was more than any other President had ever designated at any other time prior to that. What we have seen since then, with the designation of wilderness, is there has been this fight going back and forth. There have been areas that have been requested for wilderness study areas. But this administration has really taken it a major step forward.…”