Political Quotes

“Today is the ninth day of armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon--lawless, reckless behavior. As the Audubon Society points out: putting one of America's most important wildlife refuges at risk and threatening Federal employees. David Jenkins, president of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, points out they are trampling on the rights of every American, they are the opposite of conservatives, and they will continue to bully, threaten, and test the limits of civil society until they are stopped. Jenkins urged the Obama administration to follow Teddy Roosevelt's advice that the law must be enforced with resolute firmness. I fully understand policy differences, that compromises must be made and that there will be mistakes. I have worked with my Republican colleague Greg Walden, whose neighboring district goes all the way to the Idaho border, as we struggled to make broad Federal policy work better for everyone as we spent several years developing a vision for Mount Hood that included protections for wilderness and practices for infrastructure and management. It is an ongoing effort. But with 323 million Americans, diverse landscapes, and philosophies that are buried, there are going to be struggles and differences that continue. The answer is to keep working to find common ground, like we did with our staff and families on a 3-day hike around that magnificent mountain.…”