Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Washington because she brings back an experience that I had 21 years ago, when I went to Prince William Sound in the beautiful State of Alaska. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth but at that moment it was a sad situation. The Exxon Valdez tanker had run aground and spilled literally thousands and thousands of barrels of black, sludgy, crude oil on this beautiful, pristine area. I went out in a Coast Guard cutter to one of the tiny little islands in the middle of Prince William Sound, which is otherwise as beautiful as God ever made this Earth, and there, covered in oil, was this rock-strewn island, and men and women, dressed in yellow slickers, were taking big cotton cloths and trying to scoop up the oil and put these cloths into bags to be carted away. I asked one of the workers, after the television cameras were off, I said, Do you think we are doing any good? He said, If we didn't do anything it would take 10 years for God to clean up this mess. For all we are doing, it might take 9 years and 6 months. It was a pretty cynical view, but I tell you, 21 years later Prince William Sound is paying the price for that one tanker that ran aground. Senator Murkowski of Alaska told us some species of fish have all but disappeared. Herring can't be found in this area anymore. Yes, some of it is recovering, but it is slow, painfully slow. It takes generations for that to happen.”