Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Byrd and Senator Gorton for their fine work on this Interior appropriations bill. I think I have expressed the feelings of many Members of the Senate that this is a spending bill that is near and dear to our hearts. It involves so many of our Nation's greatest treasures, and the stewardship which they showed on this bill will not only reflect their feelings, but will inure to the benefit of generations to come, if we do it right. This bill is considerably different and, in my estimation, considerably better than the bill in previous years. In the past, there have been the so-called environmental riders that have been added on a variety of different issues. Most of them involved public lands and how they were to be used. I come from the State of Illinois. We have some public land in Illinois. We have a national forest in Illinois. We have part of a National Park System--a very small part. I know that some of my colleagues from the Western States have a much different situation.”