Political Quotes

“First, I just wanted to say that Congressman Rick Larsen entered his statement in the Record, and his statement speaks to the issue of the Coast Guard providing icebreaking services in the Arctic, and particularly the reconstruction of the polar sea. I want to thank Mr. Hunter and the staff, Republican staff, and our staff on our side, David, and the people that worked on this particular piece of legislation. This legislation is very important to the Coast Guard and to the American economy because it deals with the international trade. Ninety percent or more of the trade and services go by water. This bill provides the Coast Guard with the materials that it needs, with the budget authority, and with important reforms. The legislation also provides considerable support for the Merchant Marine elements in our committee. It deals in part with the necessity for the national defense. Chairman Hunter spoke to the issue of the Maritime Security Program. Similarly, the bill does speak to the Ready Reserve program as well as the breaking of ships, that is, the disposal of ships that have lost their usefulness. It is a comprehensive bill. There are a few more things that we should be doing in this piece of legislation that hopefully we will be able to take up in the Senate or in the conference committee. I spoke earlier about the export of liquified natural gas, LNG.…”