Political Quotes

“Before I yield to Mr. Rothfus just to get things straight here. Let's see. We can remediate environmental hazards by private sector dollars. I think that is good, saving the AML for other sites that can't use private sector dollars. We have a revenue stream to pay for that remediation. We have good-paying jobs and, as my colleague said, union jobs. I am from a coal-producing State everyone knows, deep southern Illinois. We have a local tax base to protect. Again, it protects the abandoned mine funds. When I was a young boy, I had a motorbike, and one of the places to ride which kind of scared me--I did it a couple of times--was on what we would call a slag hill. What is a slag hill? A slag hill is an abandoned mine refuse pile. So many of us have lived in and around these sites. This opportunity to take this and turn it into this, without taxpayer dollars, is a win. And the gentleman stole my line. The SENSE Act does make sense for jobs, for a tax base, for remediation, both in land and water, and protecting the abandoned mine funds to go to those sites that don't have a reclamation facility that can produce power and put it on the grid. So I am pleased to be down here and fighting with my colleague, Congressman Rothfus. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).”