Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of reopening our national parks and museums. This morning, I met with some of our great World War II veterans down at the World War II Memorial on our National Mall. One of these veterans, 97-year-old Eugene Morgan of West Memphis, Tennessee, came with his son, Jeff. When they arrived, they were met by ``Obamacades''--a series of rented barricades intended to keep our veterans from visiting the memorial--their own memorial. The closure of this memorial is hard to comprehend. It is an open-air memorial that is normally accessible to the public 24 hours a day, all year long, with little or no staff. It was built using private money. Veterans have been planning for months to visit this memorial. This may be the last time they come back east to see it. Other Americans are trying to visit national parks all around the country, including in my home State of Colorado, but it's unacceptable that we are closing parks, some of which don't even need staff. For many of our elderly veterans, this might be their last opportunity. Mr. President, these parks belong to us. Take down your barricades and let the people in. I urge my colleagues to support this bill to open our national parks to the American people.”