Political Quotes

“I join with Senator Stevens and certainly our colleague on the House side, Representative Young, and commend the majority for introducing this amendment that selects a southern route for the development of natural gas from the State of Alaska. I believe that while we have supported without exception the designation of the southern route, the amendment in itself is not complete and does not represent the total interest of Alaskans. I will explain that further. First of all, it is appropriate to note that as far as the responsibility of the Senate is concerned, we have finally met one responsibility associated with the energy bill; that is, to have bipartisan support for the designation of the southern route. It is also appropriate to recognize that the House initiated this some time ago. It is in H.R. 4, the specific designation of a southern route. I was very glad to see the leader was so anxious to bring this up as the first amendment from the majority. It shows that Alaskans can prevail--our Governor, our Lieutenant Governor, Senator Stevens and myself, Representative Young. On the other hand, in the interest of full disclosure, it is appropriate to note that my objection, when the majority leader asked unanimous consent to terminate reading of the amendment, was that I had not seen the amendment and believed it should have been read.”