Political Quotes

“Thank you, Senator Warner. I also want to thank the Senate majority leader. Mr. President, I have spoken on the floor a number of times about this, and I don't need to rehash the deep concern I have about the excessive delay that already exists at Reagan National, the excessive cancellations that already exist at Reagan National, and the excessive need to put planes into holding patterns circling over a city with very restricted airspace at Reagan National. I deeply oppose the jamming of more flights onto this runway, and I oppose that it was done with no involvement from Virginians whatsoever, no opportunity for us to weigh in. We are not on the Commerce Committee. So the only way we have to have an impact on this is to have an amendment on the floor. We may win it or we may lose it, but this is our hometown airport. It is all being done without us. The only impact we have is to be able to do something on the floor. So the proposed amendment that I introduced was simply to strip the slots, to follow the advice of the FAA, to follow the advice of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, to follow the advice of people who know what they are doing so as to avoid a potential catastrophe. I am not going to get that amendment. I am not going to get that amendment. So, instead, what Senator Warner has done, together with our Maryland colleagues, is propose a compromise.…”