Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Tsongas for managing this bill, and I thank Mr. Gianforte for appearing here on the floor today. I also thank Chairman Bishop and Ranking Member Grijalva for their support of this legislation in the Natural Resources Committee. I also thank Congressman Mark Sanford, who is a cosponsor of this bill, but remains in Charleston this evening for obvious reasons. I pray God's blessing upon him, his constituents, mine, and all others who find themselves in the path of this horrific hurricane. Mr. Speaker, throughout my tenure in this august body, I have worked to preserve and protect our Nation's most treasured historical sites and institutions. Reconstruction, a period which lasted a little more than 13 years, is a crucial period in American history. Although it ended March 17, 1877, we tend to apply the label ``Reconstruction era'' to the latter four decades of the 19th century. It was during those years that African Americans across the South began their freedom from slavery, gained citizenship, and enjoyed equal protection of the laws and the right to vote under the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. Some of the oldest and best preserved sites from the Reconstruction era are located in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Brick Baptist Church and Penn Center on St.…”