Political Quotes

“I want to thank former Chairman Bishop and Chairman Grijalva for their work on this legislation. This is a proud moment. We listened to a lot of angst a while ago, and now we look at two people working together to solve a problem. This is how Congress should work. I am especially proud of this legislation because, as the chairman mentioned, there are 62 pieces of legislation that passed this House that are in this bill somewhere, including five which are mine. I think it is important to the State of Alaska. What this bill does, as mentioned by the chairman and the past chairman, is gives opportunity to everybody to be involved. As the chairman said, it may not be everything we want. I had a couple of things we didn't get in it, but this is the beginning of working together on public lands as they should be, with those that are directly involved in it. The legislation that was in this bill that was mine: There was the Alaska Native veterans and selection of lands--first time. Been trying 15 years, and we finally got it done. It also has and expands the long overdue sand and gravel mineral rights to Alaskan Natives in Barrow. A lot of this land surrounds Native villages, so this legislation solves a lot of those conflicts. And everybody supports it. I am very excited about this legislation. I want to thank my senators for working on it and finally getting it done but, most of all, the committee, the Natural Resources Committee, where I was chairman for 6 years.…”