Political Quotes

“first of all, I will address an amendment to the underlying Indian health bill. It is amendment No. 3897, offered by my friend from Oregon. It is an amendment which I hope my colleagues will reject. This is an amendment that deals with the way in which moneys are disbursed for health facility construction on Indian reservations. For those of us who represent the majority of our Native American population in the United States, this is a very important proposition because most of the construction, as you could imagine, is on the Indian reservations in the Southwest--in particular, Arizona, New Mexico, and, to a lesser extent, some of the other States. It is wrong, therefore, to try to change the formula by which funding is allocated for construction of these facilities to a broader based around-the-country formula rather than based upon the population we are trying to serve. As a result, I think my colleagues should oppose the amendment.”