Jim Inhofe: “in order to properly frame some observations that I made last night and at the risk of being redundant in some of the…”

“in order to properly frame some observations that I made last night and at the risk of being redundant in some of the comments I made on this floor yesterday, let me just make some reflections as to my feelings on unfunded mandates that come from quite a few years back. Back in 1967, one of my closest political allies and friends, who later became Senator David Boren, and I came to Washington from the State legislature to protest the mandates that came from Lady Bird's Highway Beautification Act of 1965. We made a list of what it would cost the private sector in terms of screening. We made a list of the violations, of what we perceived to be violations of the 14th amendment, property rights, people having their property taken away from them in such areas as outdoor advertising signs and others. But primarily because it was the cost to the municipalities. The leverage they used at that time was that if you do not comply with the mandates of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, we will withhold several million dollars of your Federal highway matching funds.”