Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. We Californians know what suffering happens when you are unprepared for a wildfire. We have learned that lesson very tragically just recently. There is no need for us to suffer by being unprepared for the next earthquake. That is what this is all about. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and especially thank the chairman for the fact that we have worked together in a way that is really going to have a positive impact on so many people by preventing them from having to suffer what we have seen recently in the wildfires in California. Mr. Speaker, although there is often disagreement in the people's House, we should never overlook those many areas of concurrence. There are those who believe that human activity, for example, is causing a cataclysmic jump in the temperature of the planet. Others, however, disagree with this analysis and, thus, oppose policies that restrict human activities and drive up the cost of living a decent life. This issue has been a tumultuous division. However, there are so many other areas in which we can and will focus on, not just in terms of what our committee does, but on which we have a wide acceptance on where precautionary measures are justified and needed. Research in understanding how buildings, bridges, and other infrastructure react to earthquakes is an example of something that I expect that we all agree on. We can see that even here in this debate.…”