Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, at one point today, one of the upperclassman walked by and said, ``You again,'' referencing my working on a piece of legislation on this floor. For the freshmen, you might not understand the relevance of that, but in the last session and the session before, I and Mr. Peterson--my colleague on this bill--and the members of the Ag Committee worked for 2\1/2\ years to pass a piece of legislation that should have taken 6 months. Now, why is that relevant in our discussion about H.R. 1029? It is relevant because when I give you my word as the primary author of the bill that I will work with both sides of the Chamber, that I will work with all perspectives, that this is a work in progress, you can take that for exactly what it means. Now, why H.R. 1029 in the very first place? One of the classic problems that we all face in our town meetings, that we face in our interaction with citizens across this country, is a mistrust of the Federal Government, of Congress, of the other body, of the administration, of the institutions. Now, how do you overcome mistrust when it is engrained as deeply as it is right now? You increase transparency, you open the process up, you make sure that everyone understands every part of the process. That is what the Science Advisory Board was all about when it was created in 1978--have someone look over the shoulder of the people who are picking the scientists, who put the science together. That is the justification for all these rules.…”