Political Quotes

“we are on rewind again. We have been down this little debate before. It never ceases to amaze me how we can compare apples and oranges and oranges and tangerines, and then we compare everything else with rocks. It is easy for me to go home and explain this vote for the simple reason that the majority of people that live in Montana, that live in the West, where there is a large prevalence of Federal lands, they understand that. When I first went to the State of Montana, I did not have a real good understanding of public lands and the policies on those public lands and how those policies were developed. I did not have a real keen interest in what is regarded in the West as water rights. Where I was raised in Missouri, we did not file for--if you put a well down, we did not worry about water. It seemed like it came down every river, and our wells were full all the time. We enjoyed anywhere from 35 to 45 inches of rain every year, so water was not a big issue where I came from as a young lad growing up on a small farm. But when you live there for a while, and these issues come up, then all at once your interest grows in it and on the development of that public lands policy. I do not think we want to get into a class warfare type thing. I know if I was a rancher in the State of Montana, I would like to have the opportunity to grow bigger if I could and do it, and do it the way that most of them did.”