Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman Goodlatte for yielding. For two terms now, enacting legislation to streamline the Federal permitting process has been among my primary goals. Three times now, this House has passed the RAPID Act, a bill that I sponsored in both the 113th and 114th Congresses. {time} 0045 Our goal has been to fix the flaws in our Federal permitting process that often doom worthy projects that could collectively create millions of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity. In just my home State of Pennsylvania, one 2011 study found that the stalled energy projects alone would produce an average of over 56,000 jobs a year and over $44 billion in economic output. The potential growth in the American economy is staggering. Worthy projects across the country should not die on the vine while awaiting Federal bureaucratic approval. This amendment achieves these goals, and I am pleased to offer it with the chairman. It builds upon the reforms already encompassed in several bills passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and signed into law. Perhaps most importantly we have reached agreement on this amendment in a bipartisan fashion. It has been one of the honors of my time in Congress to reach not only across the aisle, but across Chambers, to work with Senator Portman and Senator McCaskill on these reforms and this amendment.…”