Political Quotes

“I want to start by thanking my colleague Senator Udall for organizing us to talk about the current Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management. I say ``acting'' because this is an individual who would not be able to be confirmed by this body. But I want to take a step back and walk through a little bit about why this is important. There was once a strong young man who rose up through New York City society. He led American soldiers in battle and went west to learn what it meant to truly to work hard on America's western landscapes. This man took all of his hard-driving spirit with him to the White House and put it to work delivering for the American people. He took on big trusts and gigantic corporations that had monopolized the American economy and put a stranglehold on American workers. Despite coming from a wealthy New York family, this man focused on delivering a ``Square Deal'' to working-class Americans. But perhaps his most important and lasting legacy was this: After our country's previous century of explosive growth across the North American continent, he saw clearly that we needed to rein in the pillaging of our forests, the draining of our wetlands, the destruction of America's wildlife, and the loss of irreplaceable cultural resources. He saw that we had only one chance left to protect the splendors of our uniquely American landscapes for future generations.…”