Political Quotes

“I come to the floor tonight as a U.S. Senator from Maine. Why am I here to discuss lobsters on the floor of the U.S. Senate? Because my State is facing its most serious crisis, in my view, in my 18 years of public service on behalf of Maine. There is a provision in the bill that we will be voting on tomorrow that is of vital, critical importance to Maine, and I believe the country. In November, a Federal court here in Washington issued a ruling under the Endangered Species Act and the Maine Marine Mammal Protection Act that effectively shuts down the entire Maine lobster fishery in 2 years. It issues requirements that simply can't be met in that timeframe. The only choice will be to shut down the fishery. What does that mean? What is the fishery? What is the lobster industry? We talk about the lobster industry. The lobster industry is this guy right here--thousands of small, independent businesses. These boats are not owned by Amazon or Walmart or Whole Foods. They are owned by individual Maine people, families, generations, in a town like this. That is what we are talking about. We are talking about the livelihoods of thousands of Maine people that will be cut off by virtue of this decision within 2 years. Is it a real threat? People are already cancelling orders for boats. The business of the people that make lobster traps is down 25 or 30 percent.…”