Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment which ties the hands of several departments--certainly the Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, all of our independent agencies that are contained in the bill, like Denali and Northern Border--from making responsible financial decisions and basic oversight of Federal dollars going into North Carolina. I find it interesting that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support this amendment, as they normally are such strong supporters of fiscal responsibility and government accountability and fiscal oversight. Prohibiting the Federal Government from being able to withhold or revoke funding in a particular State would abandon that principle. How do we know that contractors are meeting their obligations? How do we know that criminal activity is not occurring inside the State of North Carolina related to Federal expenditures in that State? If this amendment were accepted, the Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers--these are huge contracting departments--would be prohibited from conducting investigations of performance issues related to contracts or financial assistance awards. The departments could not terminate financial assistance agreements for material noncompliance. I don't think that the gentleman wishes to promote irresponsibility, but I think that is what his amendment actually does.…”