Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my amendment to the Make America Secure Appropriations Act bill. My amendment simply adds $1 million to the U.S. Corps of Engineers' investigations account to assist with projects across the country that the Army Corps is in charge of overseeing. Projects like modernizing the Soo Locks, the lock system located in my district in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which connects Lake Superior to the lower part of the Great Lakes through the St. Marys River. This is a project that has been around for a long time on the books. Projects like this that have more than 4,500 vessels and 80 million tons of cargo moving through the Soo Locks each year, this lock system plays a critical role in the transport of raw materials and other goods through the Great Lakes region to ports around the entire country. And currently, the construction of a new lock, which is integral not only to my district, but the entire United States, is caught in a mire of uncertainty, and it all comes down to one thing: funding. I think it is appropriate that we are considering this amendment in the context of making America secure because it might be a surprise to some to learn that modernizing the Soo Locks is a matter of national security.…”