Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to highlight what just happened. We just went and effectively approved an amendment that would allow for $20 billion in bonds to be issued. We just effectively approved the transfer of 2,500 acres of taxpayer property without the consideration of the Natural Resources Committee, the committee of jurisdiction. This is like Monopoly money we are sitting here playing with, but the reality is these are taxpayer funds. These aren't our moneys. These are funds of the taxpayers. This bill has not been through the proper process to ensure that we are actually and legitimately addressing the importance and the integrity of taxpayer funds. I will say it again: dating back decades, Mr. Speaker, we have had bipartisan legislation related to infrastructure--bipartisan. Dating back to the late 1990s, TEA-21, 337-80; SAFETEA-LU, 417-9; MAP-21, 293- 127. I will say it again: our distinguished chairman voted for it. The FAST Act got 372 ``aye'' votes. These were all House versions, Mr. Speaker, not the conference report. What we are seeing right now, what we are doing--I believe, again, the number is 148 Democrat amendments compared to, I believe it is 22 Republican amendments. This is not representation. This entire process is a farce. We just approved perhaps billions of dollars--or we are about to approve billions of dollars--by giving it 30 minutes' consideration. That is not what we were sent here to do.…”