Ted Deutch: “I thank my friend from Arizona for yielding me time. Mr. Chair, I rise to oppose this bill today for a number of…”

“I thank my friend from Arizona for yielding me time. Mr. Chair, I rise to oppose this bill today for a number of reasons, but building a road through a congressionally designated wilderness area is without precedent. There are lots of other reasons. I would note that at least today's debate shifts the focus of this Congress in the right direction because, when we look to Alaska, it requires a gaze just a little bit further into Russia, and I only wish that what we were debating today was the sanctions bill that passed the Senate by a vote of 98-2. The reason that we should be debating that bill today is readily apparent to anyone who has been paying attention to recent events. Just this morning, we read of the President's interview with The New York Times, and we think about a President who took action to fire the acting Attorney General, to urge the FBI Director to go easy on Flynn in the Flynn investigation, who fired the FBI Director because of the Russia investigation, and who just now, in this interview yesterday, threatened the acting FBI Director, the Attorney General of the United States, and the person carrying out the investigation of Russia and the potential ties between his administration and Russia.…”