Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, when I became chairman of this committee, I vowed never to do this kind of a package. I thought that each bill deserved to be debated and to be moved as a standalone. Basically, we in the House did that. Unfortunately, the Senate did not, which is why there are at least 63 House-passed bills in this package, 62 of which were passed on suspension, that have been sitting in the Senate, languishing for up to a year and a half. If somebody says they don't have time to look at all the stuff that is in here, there have been months that they have been able to look at this stuff as it has been sitting over in the Senate. Much of it is of parochial significance, which means it solves local challenges. The very basis of all the bills that are in here is to put people above government. If indeed we are going to have public lands, there should be access to those lands. That is one of the reasons why, for the first time in years, we have had some sportsmen's activities that are put into this particular bill. So the sportsmen can assume if they are on public land, it is going to be open for recreational hunting and fishing and shooting and all kinds of outdoor recreation, unless it is specifically closed. And a land manager cannot be arbitrary with that. If they are going to close it, there has to be a public process they go through that mandates consultation with local officials.…”