Political Quotes

“a couple of weeks ago Lake Champlain was added as a sixth Great Lake over in the Senate, and it was added primarily to take money away from the Sea Grant College Fund. There are many of us here that thought it was highway robbery and are delighted that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon), as well as Mr. Abraham and Mr. Leahy in the Senate, agreed to language that removed it from the Great Lakes status. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend our two Michigan Members for their work on this highway bill, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Barcia) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers). For many years we have been a donor State, and as one that believes in trust funds, we ought to use the money in the trust funds for the purposes that they were intended for, whether it is the Coast Guard or the Airport Trust Fund and certainly the Highway Trust Fund. I have said from the beginning that the money that we pay needs to be used as it was intended instead of financing other parts of the government. Either spend the money on our roads or give it back to us in reducing our gas tax. This bill ensures that our gas tax dollars go from the pump to the pavement. This is a good bill.”