Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first of all, I have to also lend my voice in congratulations to Senator Patty Murray. We are so proud of her and look to her for her leadership. It is an honor to serve with her in the leadership in the Senate, but she is just an extraordinary Member. And 10,000 votes--that is a lot of votes, and we should all continue to be very grateful for her leadership. So congratulations. Mr. President, this amendment is one that, in spirit--I mean, I agree with the need. Senator Sullivan and I have talked about the fact that I think he identified something that is very important for small rural communities. It is, however, duplicative of work we already do through rural development in USDA. The USDA has Community Facilities Programs. They provide grants and loans and loan guarantees for essential community services in rural areas of 20,000 residents or less, including public safety. Communities have used this for firetrucks, fire department construction, and fire equipment that Senator Sullivan has talked eloquently about. Last year, it was nearly $100 million in assistance to rural fire departments. So I told Senator Sullivan that we will have, in the next number of months, the farm bill reauthorization on the floor. I want to work very much with him on how we might be able to more focus or strengthen this program that already exists. The farm bill is coming up. I believe that is the place for us to address what is a very important issue.…”