Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, particularly in regard to the fact that I am speaking in opposition. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition. This bill would authorize the appropriation of $100 million, annually, for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act. While this may sound like a worthy goal, the devil is always in the details. Although the EPA touts the program as a way to achieve cost-effective emissions, the reality is much different. Funds from this program have gone to a number of questionable items, including $750,000 for cherry pickers in Utah, $1 million for electrified parking spaces at a truck stop in Delaware, and $1.2 million for a new engine and generators for a 1950s locomotive in Pennsylvania. The President's budget only requests $10 million for this program, yet this bill would authorize 10 times that amount. We simply cannot continue asking taxpayers to fund a program that wastes their money on frivolous projects. This program was intended to be a short-term effort to assist States and local government in meeting diesel emissions standards but has joined a long list of temporary government programs for which there is no end in sight. The GAO has noted that funding to reduce diesel emissions is fragmented across 14 programs at the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and the EPA. Surely, we can make due with one less.…”