Political Quotes

“Thank you, Madam President. Through the Chair, I also wish to thank my distinguished colleague from Tennessee for joining me. Together, as he mentioned, we are writing the Attorney General today about a matter of real concern, and that is why we come to the floor. We are both very troubled by recent reports that the Department of Justice is targeting whom to prosecute for the incidental killing of migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They are not targeting whom to prosecute by looking at birds killed; they are targeting whom to prosecute based on the type of business these various people are in--legal business--and, in particular, the type of legal energy these companies produce. What am I talking about? Well, on the one hand, oil and gas producers--traditional energy producers--are clearly being targeted. They are being targeted for prosecution, as I say, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They are being charged with the incidental killing--in a particular case that a court has dealt with--with the killing of four mallards, one northern pintail, one redneck duck, and one Say's phoebe. Now, in that case, the Federal judge involved correctly recognized that this prosecution was off-base because it wasn't about trying to kill these birds--it wasn't about any willful act. It was about a completely incidental killing of these birds because they were doing things in the normal course of business.…”