Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Natural Resources Committee chairman, Mr. Nick Rahall, and myself, I would like to commend the gentleman from Arizona, Representative Ed Pastor, for sponsoring the pending measure and for working with the committee to bring it before the full House. The sale of misrepresented and counterfeit American Indian jewelry, pottery, baskets, rugs, and other items cheats the consumer, degrades the entire native market, and robs talented, hardworking native artisans of their living. This has been a growing problem that Mr. Pastor's legislation will effectively address. H.R. 725 would amend the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 to authorize any Federal law enforcement officer to conduct an investigation of an offense involving the sale of any good that is represented as an Indian-produced good. The legislation also requires that the findings of an investigation of an alleged offense be submitted to a Federal or State prosecuting authority or to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Again, I want to commend my colleague Mr. Pastor of Arizona for his hard work and dedication to this piece of legislation. He is addressing a longstanding problem with this bill, and I ask my colleagues to support its passage. I reserve the balance of my time.”