Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I am going to close out my comments on all of these amendments by reiterating what I have been saying. I strongly oppose the underlying bill. It is full of poison pills that harm the environment and will spread our Forest Service even thinner right when we need them most. If Republicans had listened to the administration's concerns about how this bill is poorly drafted, and if they hadn't excluded committee Democrats from the drafting process then maybe we could have a consensus set of solutions in front of us. Instead, we have a bill full of environmental rollbacks, new unfunded programs that will spread our Forest Service thin, and no pay fix for our firefighters. It is a supposed wildfire response bill, but it doesn't have firefighter pay in it. It is a bill that is being offered by Republicans who style themselves as fiscally conservative. Yet, as we approach a final vote on this legislation in a matter of minutes, we do not know the costs of the bill because Republicans through a rushed process made sure that the Congressional Budget Office did not have a chance to score the bill. Nothing in this amendment addresses any of these extensive and serious concerns. I strongly oppose the bill, as does Ranking Member Grijalva, as does the White House. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).”