Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3197, the Save the Liberty Theatre Act introduced by my colleague Representative Mike Johnson. This bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a small piece of the historic Liberty Theatre to the city of Eunice, Louisiana. Although the theater is owned and operated by the city, it is adjacent to the Prairie Arcadian Cultural Center, which is owned by the National Park Service as a unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. In the 1980s, the Park Service ended up building an annex to the theater in order to construct an ADA compliant ramp and to house an air conditioning system for the two buildings. Now, the city of Eunice plans to build its own HVAC system. Consolidation of the property is a win-win: It will allow rehabilitation of the Liberty Theatre to move forward and decrease operating costs for the National Park Service. This is a commonsense piece of legislation, and I am pleased to support it today. I thank Representative Johnson for bringing this bill forward and bringing it to our attention, and I urge our colleagues to support the passage today. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”