Political Quotes

“I come from northern Illinois, an area that has over 2,500 factories. I've spent about three-fourths of my time in Congress dealing with manufacturing issues and traveled the world working on different projects that have different processes, and this bill is really, really bad for people who are interested in keeping manufacturing jobs in the United States. Therefore, I rise in opposition to the rule governing the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007. Twenty-six amendments from both Democrats and Republicans were submitted, but only seven were approved for the House for debate for 10 minutes apiece. The bill proposes to make huge changes to an important sector of our economy, and the bill, therefore, deserves more than a little over 2 hours of debate. If the underlying bill is enacted as currently drafted, it poses an unacceptable threat to the health of our manufacturing and defense industrial base. Without agriculture, mining and manufacturing, we become a Third World Nation. U.S. mining operations provide approximately 50 percent of the metals needed by American manufacturers. Everybody in Congress, Mr. Speaker, interested in manufacturing needs to listen to this, because if this bill passes, this makes us more dependent upon China to get our minerals for manufacturing.”