Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. I recognize my friend, Representative Jodey Arrington, as exactly the type of American that our Founding Fathers envisioned serving within the House of we the people. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to highlight the importance of American agriculture and the spirit of the American farmer. Being raised on a horse ranch, I learned at an early age the value of work and that rural America wasn't just a place, but a way of life. Now my wife and I live in a 1,000-square-foot, 65-year-old, wood- frame home in the middle of farm country in south Louisiana. We have nine pecan trees, two magnolia trees, and two bushes with flowers on them. I am not sure what they are, but I know she knows. She enjoys them. They bloom once a year. Other than that, it is just an honor to represent my district, which is deeply agriculturally centered: farmers, ranchers, fishermen, oil and gas workers, petrochemical workers. They are salt-of-the-earth folks who know what it is to earn a living. They understand sweat. They understand labor. In representing my district in Louisiana, these are the industries that stand up our rural communities. They are the backbone of our economy. My district is home to the heart of sugarcane for the entire country. Cane farmers in south Louisiana account for about 20 percent of all sugar production in the United States. My district is also home to the rice capital of America.…”