Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island for yielding. Mr. Chair, one of our most solemn duties in Congress is dealing with emerging national security threats. We eliminated bin Laden. We are making process in weakening ISIL. Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have alerted us to a new threat emerging deep in the heart of the Western United States, a sort of feathery sleeper cell that just can't wait to disrupt our way of life. What is inspiring so much fear? It is the lesser prairie chicken. Listening to this debate, you would think that the lesser prairie chicken was single-handedly providing aid and comfort to the enemy, not just living on the prairie and doing the occasional little dance; but, as with its unfortunate relative, the greater sage grouse, my colleagues across the aisle are trying to use the NDAA to do a little dance of their own around the science of the Endangered Species Act. The prairie chicken has not attacked our citizens, threatened our allies, or disrupted our military operations. Listing the prairie chicken as endangered is a scientific decision not within the purview of Congress and will have absolutely no effect on Department of Defense operations. The worst that anyone can say about the prairie chicken is that it is really not a chicken, but a grouse. This amendment has no place in the NDAA, and I urge my colleagues to oppose it.”