Political Quotes

“Thank you, Senator Burr. I will tell you why that permanent reauthorization is important in places like Montana, Colorado, and North Carolina. It is because it takes time to put together some of these consolidations of checkerboard lands to make this all work. Here is an example of that right here. This is a project that was executed. And you see we are not playing checkers here; this is the way the land management works oftentimes out West. So to make all that happen, to get the parties--the State, the Federal Government, and a private landowner--together here, sometimes takes years. What we don't need to have is the Federal Government back here-- Congress--providing uncertainty about whether we are going to fund a process that oftentimes takes years, getting the landowners, the State, and the Feds together to execute a consolidation that gives the public access to those public lands. That is why permanent reauthorization is so important, to take that off the table. There are enough challenges already with the LWCF and with trying to make these transactions work without having Congress get in the way. I thank you, Senator Burr, for your passion, for your steadfast commitment to the permanent reauthorization. And keep reminding us that it costs the taxpayers nothing. I think it is a pretty good value. So, again, I want to thank both my colleagues here. They have been strong leaders on this issue. We are going to keep fighting.…”