Political Quotes

“I am very happy to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), a very valuable member of our Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who has had tremendous input on this legislation. Mr. DeFAZIO. I thank the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the ranking member, and I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), the chairman, as well as the subcommittee chair and ranking member. This is a recognition of the extraordinary importance of Federal investment in the infrastructure of the United States of America to engage in both domestic and international commerce. Sometimes that seems to be lacking around here. We seem to lump everything the Federal Government does into one big pot, and if you have got something you don't like, it kind of all gets associated together. This is a program that will be paid for out of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. Yes, there is a trust fund--sort of, kind of. It has got $7 billion of theoretical balance in it. Unfortunately, our friends on the Appropriations Committee have seen fit to spend that $7 billion on other things because it is not a real trust fund. This legislation will begin to move us back toward utilizing those dedicated tax dollars in a dedicated way to maintaining the port and maritime infrastructure of the United States of America. I mean, here we are today, the Corps of Engineers has stopped dredging all small ports.…”