Political Quotes

“I rise in support of two amendments I have filed in connection with the Interior appropriations bill for fiscal year 2000. My amendments, which are cosponsored by Senator Snowe, are expected to be accepted as part of the managers' package, which the chairman of the subcommittee will be sending to the desk shortly. I want to take this opportunity to thank the subcommittee chairman, Senator Gorton, and the ranking minority member, Senator Byrd, for their assistance and support of my proposals. The amendments I am proposing will provide funding and National Park Service support for projects of great historical and international significant to my State and our country. Yet probably only a few of our colleagues have ever heard of St. Croix Island, nestled in the St. Croix River that separates Maine from Canada, or this island's place in the history of the United States and Canada and in the hearts of North Americans of French descent. We have all probably heard of the Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620, or the English colonial settlement at Jamestown in 1607, but few know the story of an even older settlement, dating back to 1604, when French nobleman Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons, accompanied by a courageous group of adventurers that included Samuel Champlain, landed on St. Croix Island and quickly set about to construct a settlement. They cleared the island, planted crops, dug a well, and built houses, fortifications, public buildings, and gun emplacements.”