Political Quotes

“I simply want to rise to commend the full committee chairman and the ranking member for this en bloc amendment. There are a number of very significant and important items that are covered. I would like to comment on a number of them, but we do not have the time. But I would like to single out one that was accepted through a bipartisan agreement on the floor, and that deals with a project in the Ural Mountains in Russia. Mr. Chairman, as most of my colleagues know, I take great effort at working with the Russian Government and, in fact, under some serious pressure, voted against two recent amendments, one which was just voted on, that I felt went too far with Russia; and proactively, my goal is to foster a better relationship with the Russian Government and the Russian military and the Russian people. However, Mr. Chairman, it has come to my attention over the past 5 years that a major project is underway in the Ural Mountains that we need to have more transparency on. This project is one that has been very secretive. There have been hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars spent mining out a huge operation in Yamantau Mountain, formerly known as Beleretz 15 and 16.”