Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule and final passage of the bill. In a time when government is borrowing over 40 cents for every dollar it spends, this bill makes needed cuts and puts forward a responsible and sensible framework for managing our Nation's natural resources. I represent a vast district in northern Michigan that includes Federal forests, national parks, and three Great Lakes. I am particularly pleased that the committee included language to boost and streamline timber harvests in Federal forests, similar to legislation that I introduced earlier this year. Right now on the Federal forests, for them to plan a timber harvest takes nearly 8 years to complete a harvest, from the beginning of the attempt to sell a parcel of land for timber and the actual harvesting; whereas, certified sustainable State forests take less than 2 years and certified sustainable county forests take a year. Basically it comes down to jobs in my district. We have a lot of Federal land in northern Michigan, and people in my district depend on the timber industry for jobs. Every little town has a mill, a flooring mill. Jobs, high-paying jobs, and the frustration that comes from having a forest full of timber and being unable to harvest it because of onerous regulations and rules result in a less healthy forest and less jobs for northern Michigan.…”