Political Quotes

“My Speaker, I would like to speak briefly about the importance of this legislation, H.R. 714, the Illinois Land Conservation Act, which has overwhelming bipartisan support from Members on both the Republican and Democrat side of the aisle. This is an innovative land reuse plan which was developed by a citizens planning commission, appointed under the direction of my predecessor, former Congressman George Sangmeister, resulted from thousands of hours of volunteer time from leaders in conservation, veterans' organizations, business and labor, educators, and many civic organizations. Briefly, the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant, commonly referred to as the Joliet Arsenal, was declared excess Federal property in April 1993. A local citizens commission developed a plan for reuse of the site, which is encompassed in my legislation. The plan has received broad-based support from Illinois' major media, citizens organizations, veterans' groups, business, labor, conservation, and educators. The plan includes transferring 19,000 acres to the National Forest Service for creation of the Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie.”