Political Quotes

“With respect to Marine Mammal, I think the gentleman from Colorado described it best. This is a commonsense amendment. I have not met a single environmentalist who does not agree with this. That says that if you have a seal sitting on a buoy and a Navy ship goes by, if the seal even looks up, he is, according to at least one biologist in the Department of Fish and Wildlife, potentially disturbed. If you potentially disturb a seal, you cannot undertake that particular military activity. What we are losing is our ability to practice our sonar capability and our new sonar equipment. That means life and death for the kids who are underneath the water in those submarines whose lives depend on being able to hear the enemy submarine before it hears them and destroys them. So I would just say to my colleague and to all my colleagues, most of this language is what we passed with a big vote last year on a bipartisan basis. It is absolutely reasonable. It has been walked back to DOD. I would just recommend, take 'yes' for an answer.”