Political Quotes

“I will vote against H.R. 701, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). CARA violates the Budget Act. The legislation creates a new entitlement and is inconsistent with the budget resolution passed by the House and Senate. It would and should be subject to a Point of Order. The Rules Committee, however, passed a rule that waives the Point of Order objection. By creating a new entitlement program, the legislation reduces the power of Congress to prioritize spending. When push comes to shove, environment interests should still compete for funds with other spending priorities such as education, Social Security and Medicare. Entitlement status for this program impedes sensible prioritization of this program. As a result, it is poor public policy to expand our entitlement spending as provided in CARA. Mr. Chairman, as a further explanation of why this bill is not good public policy, I submit the following article from today's Washington Post entitled, 'A Green Bill in the House.' The House is to vote today on a bill that will pass for precisely the reason it should fail. The measure is doubly green: The purpose is environmental, and the votes have been bought. A new entitlement would be created, in part by people who in other contexts are wont to declaim against entitlements as poor fiscal and social policy alike. About $3 billion a year would be distributed to buy and thereby protect environmentally valuable land and for other conservation purposes.”