Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague Mr. Cardoza from California for yielding. I also want to express solidarity with the concerns and expressions of sympathy expressed by the Speaker for the residents of California who are so afflicted by this terribly uncontrollable act of nature. I know the entire Congress, if they had the opportunity, would want to stand up and speak out on behalf of those very same sentiments. We hope they can get that fire under control and that the people that have been displaced are able to find other housing and some safety. It's certainly one of the worst natural disasters. None of us can imagine what it would be like to be in the line of fire. Mr. Speaker, my primary purpose for rising today is to express support for the legislation that has been introduced by my good friend and Virginia colleague Congressman Rick Boucher. It's an extraordinary proposal for what it accomplishes in the way of conservation and wilderness protection but also for the collaborative effort it represents to bring different public land uses together to the table and craft a proposal that almost everybody can and does support. In fact, Republican Senator John Warner, the dean of our delegation, has sponsored it over on the Senate side. The Virginia Ridge and Valley Act will protect nearly 43,000 acres of the Jefferson National Forest in southwestern Virginia as wilderness or wilderness study areas and another 12,000 acres as scenic areas.”