Political Quotes

“I offer this amendment with my colleague from Oklahoma (Mr. Boren). This a bipartisan amendment to this appropriations bill with the intent to return funding for the Forest Health Management Account, under State and private forestry. What we're intending to do with our proposed amendment is to move money from the D.C. bureaucracy, and I anticipate there will be a concern raised about the offset of the line that we're using to cover this increase in the Forest Health Management account from the Secretary's account. But I firmly do believe that our taxpayer dollars are better spent not on the bureaucracy of the Secretary's office here in Washington, D.C., but more importantly on the front lines and into the States that can benefit from these programs. This program that we're trying to take care of with this amendment is to restore the funding for the purposes of weeding out invasive species which threaten many industries and our environment across the Nation. Essentially, invasive species threaten natural habitats, economies, and environments in every State and essentially every district that we represent. The work done by the Forest Service in education, outreach, and on-the-ground action is imperative to the prevention and early detection of nonnative invasive species.…”