Political Quotes

“I am here on the floor to talk about legislation that helps our national parks, which is something that everyone on this floor has been supportive of over the years. I am here with a couple of my colleagues who have spent a lot of time and effort being focused on that issue. One is Senator Angus King, who is an Independent, although he organizes over there with the Democrats. He and his colleague, Senator Mark Warner--a Democrat from Virginia-- have been very involved in this issue and have introduced legislation to address the unmet needs in our parks, which is a critical issue right now. There is a $12 billion deferred maintenance backlog for our national parks. Many of our roads and bridges and water systems and railroads in my home State--where we have a railroad running through a national park--are crumbling, and we need to address it. So we are going to hear a little from Senator King about that. The other colleague I want to talk about is Senator Alexander. He has been a champion for the parks over the years. In fact, my recollection is that a few decades ago, President Ronald Reagan named him to a commission on the outdoors. It was probably when he was the Governor of Tennessee--one of the many jobs he has had, including being the Secretary of Education and the president of the University of Tennessee.…”