Political Quotes

“I rise to speak about the Great American Outdoors Act or, more particularly, about the absence of a coastal resiliency amendment that I wish to have included. Let me begin by congratulating Senators Cory Gardner and Steve Daines, from Colorado and Montana, respectively, of their pending success in passing the Great American Outdoors Act. It takes lots of work to build enough support to get legislation to this floor for a vote, and even more to see that it passes. The people of Montana and Colorado should be proud of how their Senators fought and delivered billions to restore their national parks. I commend my colleagues. Those who have followed the debate know that I have opposed the bill as written. National parks are national treasures, but what led to my opposition is, I believe, that the Senate had the opportunity to help the more than 135 million Americans who live in a coastal parish or county by concomitantly funding flood mitigation and coastal resiliency projects. I fought hard to include a provision that would have invested in the coast to fortify against hurricanes and other catastrophic flooding events. Funding coastal resiliency would have passed as part of this legislation. It is an opportunity lost, but I have been reassured that enough Senators care about the issue, and perhaps they care about the issue because of the arguments that I have made.…”