Political Quotes

“Our time has come to an end. In conclusion, I thank the Senator from Oregon again, the subcommittee chair, for his leadership. I also particularly thank Senator Menendez and Senator Isakson, the two lead sponsors of this bill, who have come together to provide the leadership to move this bill forward. They will be looking for a vehicle. We filed it on this bill in the event we have an opportunity for an amendment on the Defense bill. If not, we will be looking for the next possible opportunity. I thank the Presiding Officer for her cosponsorship and her leadership for North Dakota. This is a map of all the counties which have levees. I was surprised when I saw this map. I am very familiar with the levees in Louisiana. I helped to build a lot of them. I am very familiar with the Mississippi River generally because we have so much commerce along the Mississippi. I am generally familiar with Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. But what really stood out for me was the levee systems in Montana, Arizona, and California. A lot of these are levees, dikes, and dams that are different from the river levees that we see. But look at Pittsburgh, New York, North Dakota, Montana, Washington. There is not a place in this country--not on the coast, not on the interior--that doesn't have a threat of flooding. Either a levee can break, a dam can break, a river can overflow, or there can be flash flooding because of droughts. Even in Texas where there is a lot of flash flooding.…”