Political Quotes

“I came to the floor to offer an amendment so that we could prevent our foreign adversaries from mining American resources for free and taking them across the ocean to their lands. When we let our foreign adversaries take our resources away for free, it doesn't do any good for American dominance or for American taxpayers. My opponents in this argument have decided to attack New Mexico's oil and gas and mining interests. Let me remind the gentleman that in New Mexico--and I am pleased that in New Mexico we have a lot of oil and gas production, including in my district--we have wind and solar production, including in my district; we have mining, including in my district, but we do it with sensible regulation so that our clean water and air and the economic interest of our citizens are protected. What I am suggesting to him is that the environmental protections that we have in New Mexico apply across the country because there was a time when it wasn't like that. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that in my backyard, where I played, where I drank water, and where we fished as children, those waters were destroyed by mining. That was because there wasn't enough regulation. Guess who had to clean up that mining? It was taxpayers, taxpayers in the State, and not so much the Federal Government.”