Political Quotes

“I appreciate the opportunity to debate and consider my amendment to encourage local hiring and recruitment, but I also want to note my disappointment that my friends across the aisle rejected any consideration of my other two amendments on this floor. One of those amendments would allow the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to prevent exploratory mining from taking place on Federal land if it would negatively impact our water, farmers, Tribes, or local communities. In New Mexico, ``agua es vida''; ``water is life.'' It shouldn't be controversial to protect our waters from mining contamination for our people, farmers, and environment. My other amendment would have simply stated that this bill would not go into effect until the Federal Government certified that it would lower costs for American consumers and save taxpayers money. If this bill is really designed to lower energy costs for American consumers and taxpayers, let's verify that before putting polluters over people. Again, I appreciate the opportunity to consider my amendment, which would require local units of the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service to conduct an outreach plan to disseminate and advertise local civil service positions with functions relating to permitting and natural resources in their offices. Each plan must include outreach to local high schools, community colleges, institutions of higher education, and other relevant institutions.…”