Political Quotes

“Madam Chairman, we have accomplished something unique with the drafting of this legislation. We have brought together people from very different walks of life. We have given them equal seats at the table of public policy, and we have crafted an Oregon-based solution that works for the ranchers and works for the environment. I want to start by telling my colleagues about the people who live in Harney County and who ranch on Steens Mountain. These are people whose ancestors were encouraged by the Federal Government to take the risk of expanding our Nation's frontier, to risk life and property to settle the Wild West. They were the homesteaders of the 1800s, people of undaunted courage who followed the trail to the West blazed by Lewis and Clark some 200 years ago. They moved to an area of Southeast Oregon later called Harney County, where cows outnumbered people and still do today. It is a county that is larger than most New England States, 143 miles long and 86.6 miles wide. There are no freeways here, no congestion, no gridlock except when they are moving cows to graze in another area. These are people whose closest neighbor is often miles and miles away. They are self-reliant people with soft hearts but rugged spirits. This is not the world of high-tech millionaires, BMWs, and the fast life. But it is a place where people look out for each other, take care of each other.”