Political Quotes

“Madam President, there has been a lot of talk about how we go about rebuilding the infrastructure after recent disasters and how we assist struggling States to accomplish that goal. Many in this body do not believe the Federal Government should borrow money in an attempt to bail out States. We have our own financial mess right here at the Federal level that citizens across this country are saying, rightfully so, we have to get solved. But we can all agree that one of the best things the Federal Government can do is get out of the way and cut through the redtape. We must remove Federal hurdles and barriers, so much cumbersome process that constitutes the largest barrier to rebuilding our infrastructure. In fact, I am very pleased to rise this morning and report there is language in the appropriations bill that I believe should get unanimous support in this body. It is part of the transportation section. It simply says States may rebuild their roads and their bridges that have been damaged in disasters without having to repeat environmental study after study. Gosh, what a commonsense solution. Keep in mind, we are talking only about replacing roads and bridges that have already been through process, that are already there, that were carrying traffic before the disaster. What we are saying is the most practical we could possibly say; that is, there is no need to repeat the expense of the time-consuming studies. Let's get out there and help the States get the work done.…”