Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to thank the chairman and our ranking member for the great work that they have done not only this time but over the years. As a member of the subcommittee, I have had an opportunity to--and earlier in previous sessions as chairman of the subcommittee--I've had an opportunity to visit many Coast Guard facilities. I am so amazed by what I see when I see so many young people who give their lives, their blood, sweat and tears to save other people and to make sure that our waterways are kept safe, and to make sure that our coasts are guarded. I call them the thin blue line at sea. I do support this legislation because I think it is very important. There are some concerns I have, but I do want to commend the chairman. I understand that we have a manager's amendment that adds a modified version of H.R. 2839, the Piracy Suppression Act, as a title to this bill, and I think that is very, very important. The piracy provisions include those that require the Department of Transportation to establish a training program for U.S. mariners on the use of force against pirates and require a report from DOD within 180 days on actions taken to protect foreign-flag vessels from acts of piracy on the high seas. I will definitely support that because I think it is very, very important. We've seen, and I know the chairman has spent a lot of time on this, what has happened with regard to these pirates.…”