Political Quotes

“I am concerned about the sense of urgency of the problem dealing with sudden oak death. The nursery industry is an important part of our agricultural base. Just 1 percent of Oregon farm land devoted to the nursery industry produces 20 percent of total crop value. This is not just an Oregon problem. We are involved with massive amounts of transfer of plant material around the country, and if we are not able to move quickly to deal with sudden oak death, we risk not just crippling the nursery business in Oregon but it is going to have consequences for people throughout the country as this disease makes its way through the system. I hope that we would in fact approve this amendment. It is a modest amount of money to make a difference to a $14 billion national industry and prevent much more serious steps that will need to be taken in the future. I would hope that my colleagues would approve the amendment to exercise the foresight to avoid a problem in our State, in our region, in the West to avoid becoming truly a national disaster.”