Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Oregon an additional 1 minute. Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, it would put a small fee on operators of underground storage tanks that would help to support the safety programs. I would say with respect to funding, the bill is funded at current baseline levels. We should have provided them additional funds to carry out their numerous pipeline safety missions, but unfortunately, we couldn't reach bipartisan agreement on providing additional resources. This bill does, however, increase grants to States to help them carry out their intrastate pipeline safety programs. It reauthorizes funding for pipeline safety information grants to communities, which are important to my constituents. There are pipelines in places that no one is aware. There is one that runs down the middle of the Willamette Valley, all the way down, that supplies the Eugene Airport and a storage facility down in Eugene. A number of years ago, there was a news story, like: what pipeline? There are new developments going in. The signs are buried under blackberry bushes, and people aren't aware of these things. So we have to make certain those pipelines are safe. The new provisions for coastal areas are absolutely critical to make sure those are maintained at the highest standard and built to the highest standard in other critical resource areas. All in all, I congratulate my colleagues and recommend this bill.”