Malcolm Wallop: “I am sure it is a very rare occasion upon which I would disagree with the business judgment or the political judgment of…”

“I am sure it is a very rare occasion upon which I would disagree with the business judgment or the political judgment of my friend from Utah, Senator Bennett. And rarely have I been on the other side of a bill that the committee has brought to the floor from the Senator from Louisiana. In fact, the two of us, I still believe, passed the only really major piece of legislation in the last Congress, the national energy strategy. Madam President, I find, from talking to colleagues, the first thing everybody wonders is, what is all the fuss about? I mean, who can be worrying about a couple of hot dog stands? That is what the concessions are. They do not know, the average person in this body does not have a clue, what we are talking about. And possessory interest puts them straight to sleep. It is a word not often used in the rest of business. But, it is important I think to realize what the concessions are. They are the hotels, they are the dude ranches, they are the rafting operations, they are the gasoline and convenience stores, they are riding, guiding, sight-seeing operations, depending on the nature of the park; they are the bus systems, they are boating opportunities, they are what America has asked the private sector to do for it. The Senator from Louisiana said, quite correctly, that these assets run to hundreds of millions of dollars. Madam President, that is precisely correct, and the taxpayer did not pay a dime for it.”