Political Quotes

“I want to begin by thanking the subcommittee chairman, my friend from California, and the ranking member, my friend from Minnesota, for the hard work that they have put into today's bill. As a new member of the committee, I have gotten to see firsthand the enormous amount of work that went into the product that we have before us today, and it is, frankly, a testament to the hard work of the Appropriations Committee staff that we have been able to get to this point. I want to begin by expressing support for a number of really important provisions in the bill that I think are critical points of progress. In a very tough budget environment, this bill boosts funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, increasing the Federal commitment to addressing the needs of Indian Country. Coming from timber country, I can say that there is also a very strong effort here to ensure that the Forest Service can responsibly increase harvest levels on our national forests, as well as supporting new tools, such as collaboratives, that have the potential to bring folks together in a way that reduces the litigation risk surrounding these projects. Of course, I would love for us to be able include in this bill Mr. Simpson's legislation addressing wildfire disaster funding. I have heard from so many people in my neck of the woods just how important it is that we get this taken care of it.…”