Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, mining is a very interesting field, and a lot of modern mining is very, very environmentally conscious. I think it is noteworthy to recognize that all rock is between zero to six or seven stages of acid rock leaching. All that means is, if acid-leaching rock is crushed, its exposure to water and air becomes a contaminant to fish. Acid-rock drainage was not very well understood in some of the early mines, and I know that there are a lot of entities that are very interested and have a lot of philanthropic money behind them to put toward remediation and reclamation. This act provides a reasonable, commonsense approach to ensure that voluntary parties that had nothing to do with the cause of pollution are able to take steps to reduce the environmental health and safety problems associated with abandoned mine sites. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.”