Political Quotes

“I want to thank my colleague and friend from Oklahoma, and I also want to thank the ranking member of the Committee on Finance for being here because he is so right, we have to work together. On the EPW Committee, we know how critical this is. The Committee on Finance knows how critical it is because they have to figure out the pay-fors--let's be honest, the hardest part of all this--and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation also has to work. I am sure Senator Thune is very aware of that, and his ranking member as well. MAP 21, our transportation bill, is set to expire as the summer construction season is beginning. Several States--Arkansas, Georgia, Wyoming, and Tennessee--have already delayed or canceled construction projects due to the uncertainty in the Federal transportation funding system. Other States are considering similar actions as the construction season fast approaches. I want to make this point. We are going to hear from all of our States. I am fortunate, I have such a large State they can go a little longer with the uncertainty, but even California, which receives quite a bit from the highway trust fund, is going to start to hurt pretty soon. I am so proud that my friend, my chairman, is here, because we have such a great history of working together on infrastructure projects-- not so good on the environment; we go toe to toe and don't work together on that, but we work together on infrastructure.…”