Rand Paul: “moments ago, HR 4570 was described as a ``delicate balance'' not to be disturbed by votes against either the resolution…”

“moments ago, HR 4570 was described as a ``delicate balance'' not to be disturbed by votes against either the resolution or the rule. In fact, the primary justification presented for passage of the bill was the ``brilliance'' with which a compromise securing the necessary number of votes was ``engineered.'' Statements such as these are an unfortunate commentary on the state of affairs in the nation's capital insofar as they represent not advancement of sound policy principles but rather a seriously flawed process by which federal government ``favors'' are distributed in a means which assures everyone gets a little something if they vote to give enough other districts a little something too. This is not the procedure by which Congress should be deciding matters of federal land disposition and acquisition. In fact, there appears to be no Constitutional authority for most of what HR 4570 proposes to do. Particularly frustrating is that in my attempt to return authority to the State of Texas for a water project located in the 14th District, I introduced HR 2161, The Palmetto Bend Title Transfer Project. Return of such authority comports with my Constitutional notion that local control is preferred to unlimited federal authority to dictate from Washington, the means by which a water project in Edna, Texas will be managed.”