Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, Utahns believe in being good stewards of our planet, leaving the Earth better than we found it. When I served as the mayor of Provo, we pursued policies to construct LEAD-certified buildings, create more environmentally friendly transit options, and educate our residents on how they can be better stewards of the environment. We considered these efforts to be meaningful steps in the right direction. But, imagine my surprise when I arrived in Congress and learned of the dangerous winner-take-all system of governing that has overtaken Washington, especially on issues impacting the environment. Instead of a pragmatic approach to a positive change through small and consistent consensus, an all-or-nothing approach dominates the debate and villainizes all but the most extreme positions. Congress is a place where ideological purity is rewarded more than results. It is easy to vote on a messaging bill that the sponsor knows will never be passed into law and then go home and take the applause from the like-minded constituents, but it is difficult to leave the echo chambers and work across the aisle with individuals who have different backgrounds than yourself and find common ground. The most obvious example of this is the climate change debate in our country where, today, my Democratic colleagues have taken the easy path. The bill we are voting on today has 224 Democratic sponsors and not a single Republican sponsor.…”