Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have another issue I wish to bring up today in the remainder of my time. I have two other amendments I would like the body to consider. I understand what the Chair has just said. One of the things that I think we recognize is much of our country's production can lag due to an accumulation of redtape due to permitting issues. We know the Federal Government cannot necessarily set global commodity prices, but it can create a situation where capital that might be invested in American mineral production is stranded for long periods of time. That is what we see happening, and it is unacceptable. What we should not do, particularly in the case of energy and minerals development, is subject a project to an unnecessarily long permitting process. I have an amendment that would begin to remedy this situation, and it would do so by using the very language the President used last week with his executive order, which he signed March 22. My amendment incorporates provisions that had pretty broad bipartisan support on the highway bill considered by this body. These provisions will work. According to the September 2010 report by the Federal Highway Administration, these reforms have cut the time required to complete environmental reviews and have mitigated the delays caused by last-minute legal challenges. What they do, more specifically, is take the President's executive order and put some teeth to it, if you will.…”