On the recordSeptember 25, 2015
Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time to say to my colleague from Texas that this bill is about national security. The gentlewoman is right. We can all agree on the importance of national security and protecting our security, but making sure that when projects are planned they are implemented within a reasonable period of time. And we are talking about years--not days or weeks or even months--years for a permitting, years for examination to make sure that these are done carefully, but not decades, as happens now with a number of different projects that have been discussed over the last 2 days that, in their current state, without the kinds of repairs, without the kinds of increased improvements, without the kinds of additional safety and security protections that new projects bring online, we are more vulnerable, not less. I fear that the gentlewoman from Texas' amendment would do just that.
