Richard K. Armey: “The basic question we are asking here is how do we as a Nation preserve, utilize, conserve, and develop our resources to…”

“The basic question we are asking here is how do we as a Nation preserve, utilize, conserve, and develop our resources to achieve the wealth of a Nation in the lives of our children. It seems to me it takes a balanced and informed relationship between real people, who naturally will love their land more than anybody could when they make their living off it and they live on it, and a government. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, sometimes the government can do some downright silly things. Driving through Georgia just a week ago, looking at the beautiful landscape of Georgia, seeing the damage that was done by what I call the kudzu government. A lot of my colleagues may not be familiar with kudzu, but if they were to go to south, southeast America they will see kudzu. My colleagues who are uninformed might say, my goodness, that is pretty. But what is kudzu? Kudzu is something introduced in rural America, in the southeast, ostensibly to control soil erosion. And what it does is it grows over and smothers all the natural foliage of the region.”