Political Quotes

“Mr. President, later during the Senate's consideration of this bill, the Interior appropriations bill, there will be, it is my understanding, a rider offered by Senator Bryan of Nevada. That rider would reduce the Forest Service road construction by $10 million, roughly 20 percent. It would eliminate the Forest Service's Purchaser Credit Road Construction Program and modify the formula for receipt-sharing for Forest Service receipts with the counties. Mr. President, at the appropriate time, I intend to rise in opposition to the amendment and vote against it. I encourage my colleagues to do likewise. But I wanted to share a brief perspective with my colleagues from the standpoint of the chairman of the authorizing committee with jurisdiction over these matters. The Bryan amendment will follow hard on the heels of a similar amendment which was offered in the House by Congressman Kennedy and Congressman Porter in July. That amendment precipitated, as a consequence, a very intense debate in which numerous sets of facts were presented to the House and some statements were made that were not necessarily factual. Not surprisingly, the material that was brought into the debate, to a large degree, was in conflict. I have often believed that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but that we ought to try to express our opinions using a commonly held set of facts.”