Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I think that it would be worthwhile for some of the Members to know why many of us on this side of the aisle are not going to vote for this bill. I know that the gentleman from New Mexico, who I very strongly support in all the work that he has tried to do, is working under constraints not of his own making. It is the budget, which we are going to take up next, or sometime this evening, that is causing all the problems, but that budget cuts back severely on agriculture programs that will impact adversely, severely, on many rural districts, including my own. We need more money in here for rural water and sewer, for economic development in the rural areas. That all is possible and would have been possible under the coalition or the blue dog budget. But, no, we had to do the Republican budget, and it makes these severe cuts in agriculture. It is not only in the rural water and sewer areas, but it is also in rural housing that is cut back. I do not know why the Republican majority wants to devastate rural America, but it seems that they are bound and determined to do so. If we look at another area of that budget, at the Medicare area, we will find what the cuts in Medicare and Medicaid will mean. In my district, in rural areas, we are going to have hospitals close.”