Political Quotes

“this bill is the only one of the 13 appropriations bills that every dollar that is in the bill is discretionary funding. It is extremely important, every dollar that we have in this bill, that it go to the right source or sources. As the ranking member of this subcommittee, I have worked very closely with the chairman of the subcommittee. He has been very open, invited me to meetings with Cabinet officers, and this has been a joint venture, this legislation, as well it should be. I know the chairman of the subcommittee worked very closely for many, many years with the then chairman of the subcommittee, Senator Bennett Johnston, and then when the roles reversed, they also worked very closely together. This is a bill that cries out for bipartisanship. It is a bill that affects very important aspects of this, our Federal Government. The bill can be supported by the entire Senate because we have approached it on this basis. It has been a difficult bill, but I think what we have arrived at is equitable and good public policy, despite very difficult circumstances. One of the difficulties the subcommittee faced is one that cannot be solved easily and that is the significance of these water projects around the Nation. The Corps of Engineers programs, both general investigations and construction, received balanced increases over last year's budget while the operation and maintenance aspect of their program was reduced by some $200 million.”