Brandon Williams: “Mr. Chairman, I represent a place a long way from Appalachia, and I do not serve on this committee, but I wanted to rise…”

“Mr. Chairman, I represent a place a long way from Appalachia, and I do not serve on this committee, but I wanted to rise today in support of the Appalachian Regional Commission and in support of my colleagues who understand how well it works. Both Republicans and Democrats will defend the results of the good work of this Commission. I also rise because I want to talk about a couple of matters of the atmospherics in this House and in America which occasion amendments like this. One of the atmospherics, it seems to me, that is beginning to seep into this Chamber is, if it is more than a couple of decades old, it is bad and it does not work anymore. Despite the fact that the data and the facts and the statistics and the evidence may show otherwise, too many people, sometimes a majority tragically in this Chamber, just go by the criteria that 'if it's more than two decades old, we've got to get rid of it, it doesn't work.' I think that is wrong on the face of it. Let's not govern that way.”