Political Quotes

“first, I thank the Senator from Florida for yielding and congratulate him on the success of this launch in Florida. As he said, it is a huge boost, if you will, for the space industry in his State and a huge advantage for our country. It is a really amazing technological feat that I think will be positive. Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling Mr. President, I rise just for a few minutes to talk about the decision to allow drilling for oil and gas off of our coasts. This is a very consequential and serious decision involving important policy questions, and it has important implications for all of the coastal States and indeed for our country. My concern, to echo some of the comments that have already been made, is that there was very little, if any, consultation with the interested parties along our coastal States. In Maine--which, by the way, according to geographers I have talked to, has the longest coast of any State in the country; I am sure I will get some debate about that from some of my colleagues--we depend upon our coast. Tourism and visitation to our beaches and coastal communities are a billion-dollar industry-- the largest single employer in our State. So that is an enormous economic engine that is currently working and running and powering at least a portion of the economy of our State. Of course, on my tie, I have lobsters, which is a $1.7 billion-a-year industry in Maine, and it promises to be even stronger as processing is developed.…”