Rick Hill: “Mr. Speaker, we are living in a time when I think the cynicism about government is probably at an all-time high. It of…”

“Mr. Speaker, we are living in a time when I think the cynicism about government is probably at an all-time high. It of course is because we have probably an all-time high in the number of scandals here in Washington. The scandal that has given rise to this particular bill is that there has been a raid on the sportsmen and women's trust funds. The sportsmen and women in this country have supported an excise tax on guns and ammunition and fishing equipment and archery equipment, which it goes into a fund, the purpose of which is to support conservation efforts and promote hunting and fishing. Now, what we have discovered is that, in recent years, these funds have been raided using what the General Accounting Office has described as a shell game. The Fish and Wildlife Service created slush funds to circumvent the intent of Congress. The General Accounting Office described the management of these funds, and I quote, "one of the worst managed programs that it had ever encountered."”