Political Quotes

“I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would essentially destroy efforts to put an end to the damage that is wrought by mountaintop removal. Now, many of my colleagues who are not familiar with mountaintop removal, what happens is you take mountains that look like this, and then you turn them into this. This is what happens. And the consequence of doing that, you blow off the top of these beautiful mountains. You push all of the stuff that you've blown up into the valleys that surround it, poisoning streams, poisoning the people who live nearby, poisoning the water supply that feeds much of Appalachia. This is damage that is irreversible. It will never be like this again because nothing grows here. Now, I know a lot of people try to justify mountaintop removal by saying this is an economic boon for the region. In fact, since mountaintop removal became a prevalent practice, mining jobs have actually declined by more than 50 percent. This is not good for the people of Kentucky and Appalachia. It's not good for the economy, and it's certainly not good for the environment. Ladies and gentlemen, we have numerous efforts now in Federal Government finally trying to put an end to this destructive, immoral practice. Many in my State gathered in Frankfort just last week to protest what's happening here, to our State, to our children, and to our economy. We can do much better.…”