Political Quotes

“I recognize the legitimacy of the concern he seeks to address. Speaking from the upstream perspective on the Missouri River, there is a word of reservation I want to advance about dealing in an appropriations bill with the minutiae of the administrative branch, in this case the Corps of Engineers. The process has already worked as it should. The Corps of Engineers had extensive hearings on the spring rise proposal and received a ton of input, nearly all of it negative. They no longer have plans, as I understand it, to implement the spring rise proposal as initially advanced. They are back to the drawing board. Therefore, this kind of restriction imposed without hearing in the appropriations process is, in my opinion, not necessary, although I do acknowledge the gentleman's concern and would note that my wife, in 1993, spent 3 weeks working in Iowa on the flooding there. Mr. Chairman, from its origins in Montana to its end near St. Louis, the mighty Missouri River is managed and controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers.”