Walter B. Jones: “I want to take a different perspective. Not talking about the environmental issues, I must say to the gentleman from…”

“I want to take a different perspective. Not talking about the environmental issues, I must say to the gentleman from Oregon, I have great respect for you also, though I disagree, but Dr. Pilkey is an extremist. I do not have the time to get into why I feel he is an extremist, but he is. Let me very briefly say that what we are talking about is the economy of these beach areas, the people that pay taxes, the people that want to do for their families. That is really what it comes down to. Let me give you an example. In Dare County, which the gentleman made reference to earlier, the Corps of Engineers says for every $1 spent on beach renourishment in Dare County, it will return $1.90 cents to the Federal Government. So any time we can make those kinds of investments, we need to do that. We need to partnership with the people of this country that pay the taxes. ... I want to close in saying, Mr. Chairman, that beaches are this country's economic engines. Four times as many people will visit beaches this year as will visit the national parks.”