Political Quotes

“My amendment is about tackling a problem that, frankly, affects every single one of us in every single one of our districts, and that is storm water. Most of us probably don't think about it very much, but, frankly, when rain falls--it does a lot of that in the Northwest--and flows through our streets and off the shoulders of our highways, it picks up all sorts and kinds of pollutants. We are talking, frankly, about some really nasty stuff: toxic chemicals like arsenic and flame retardants, as well as oil and pesticides. Stop and think. The single largest contributor of water pollution in the United States of America is storm water runoff--up to 80 percent in some places. Toxic storm water runoff harms our rivers and our lakes and our waterways. But it not only harms our environment, it harms our businesses that depend on clean water, like the shellfish industry of Washington State which employes, literally, thousands of people. In Puget Sound, the largest estuary in America, storm water runoff literally can kill a salmon in a few hours. Well, salmon and other fish are a way of life in Washington, to the tune of a $30 billion, with a B, economy. Salmon also serve as a vital resource of immeasurable value. For the 19 federally recognized Tribes in the Puget Sound, salmon is their way of life. They are called the salmon people.…”