Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, Mr. Speaker, and I especially want to thank my good friend, the chairman of the House Judiciary committee, Mr. Goodlatte, and Mr. John Conyers, the senior ranking member, for their support of this proposed bill. I would especially also like to thank Jim Sensenbrenner, the chairman of the subcommittee, and the gentleman from Virginia, my good friend, for their support in the subcommittee. I also want to acknowledge Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor, and our Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, for their support. Mr. Speaker, my district faces a serious problem with tobacco smuggling. According to a recent study, in 2010 alone, as many as 5.8 million cigarettes were smuggled into the territory. The study found that tobacco smuggling resulted in the loss of about $725,000 in revenues to the territory. If continued undeterred, tobacco smuggling in the territory will lead to heavier losses in local tax revenues, especially if the cigarette excise tax rate were to be increased. Mr. Speaker, securing and sustaining stable sources of local revenue stream is essential and must be encouraged for the territories, as it has already done for the States. It was for this reason I began to look into this important issue. I was disappointed, however, to find that under the current law prohibiting cigarette smuggling, not all the territories were included.…”