Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, we have Hurricane Florence bearing down on our Nation now. The Carolinas and Georgia are inevitably going to have disaster, destruction, and damages. What happens in the aftermath, as folks begin looking at it, they ask the question: What could we have done differently? This bill, together with other legislation, is exactly what needs to be done. This begins the process of addressing this ridiculous backlog of $100 billion in projects that we need to move forward on, that we need to construct, and bringing efficiencies to the table, like allowing for States and local governments to advance these projects on their own, taking advantage of their capabilities of greater cost efficiencies, of streamlined permitting processes, and other efficiencies that they are capable of doing. This bill brings all sorts of solutions to the table, including, Mr. Speaker, looking at whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should even be within the Department of Defense. When I call Secretary Mattis and talk to him about Russia, China, North Korea, Syria, and Iran, should I introduce a wetlands permit in that conversation? I don't think I should. It is not compatible with the agency. So we are looking at where this mission can be a top priority, can be properly housed, and where we can accomplish these projects much faster than we are doing today. Mr.…”