Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, my amendment would ensure that we're placing a higher priority on completing some ongoing rural water projects in the Great Plains region and in the West. My amendment takes $15 million from the Department of Energy's administration budget and $15 million from the solar energy programs. $25 million of this would go into the Bureau of Reclamation's Rural Water Projects; the remaining $5 million would be left for deficit reduction. Mr. Chair, I recognize that we have limited funds to go around. This is why we need to work so hard to make sure that our priorities are addressed. It's why we make sure that we can agree that water should be a priority, that drinking water for people that live in this country should be a priority. There are places in this country, especially in the rural areas, that people are still waiting for a stable water supply. There are towns that would like to grow, but they don't have enough water or basic infrastructure to find new businesses and bring new families in. They're waiting for the Federal Government to complete projects that have already been authorized, that have already been started, and that those communities have already invested in. As we go through the appropriations process, I think supplying our rural areas with water should be a top priority. I think it is shocking; it's shocking that some of these authorized projects have been waiting years to see the promised Federal dollars to complete the projects.…”