Earl Blumenauer Quotations

Mr. Speaker, from hurricanes and floods in Latin America to earthquakes in Asia, natural disasters are increasingly becoming a regular feature of life for large numbers of people around the globe.

Our community is like many around the country that have, as the gentleman from New York referenced, sophisticated planning and zoning regulations. These are elements that are developed as a result of local community pressure to balance interests.

While the United States has largely been missing in action from the diplomatic game, the European Union and Iran have been making progress at developing a formula that would lead to the suspension of Iran's nuclear enrichment program and the start of serious negotiations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes an annual appropriation that we provide in accordance with a statutory formula, the vast majority of which goes directly to public radio and television stations.

A property in the 100-year floodplain has a 96 percent chance of being flooded in the next hundred years without global warming. The fact that several years go by without a flood does not change that probability.

Mr. Speaker, for the last 5 years I have been working with a bipartisan group of my colleagues to make it illegal to continue the barbaric practice of game bird and illegal dog fighting.

At a time when 2500 American soldiers have given their lives for the cause of bringing democracy to Iraq, it is sad and frustrating to watch the Republican establishment disgrace the exercise of democracy in our own House of Representatives.

We won the war, but we are losing the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq. It is past time for a new approach, one that relies on accountability, responsibility, and phasing down the scope of our military commitment.

As has been pointed out with Libya, the debate over Libya, sometimes we allow diplomatic relations with imperfect regimes because progress can best be made through engagement instead of isolation.

Everybody on this floor wants to send the same loud and clear message: that Congress is united in its opposition to terror and we are all deeply concerned about the future and security of our close friend and ally, Israel.

Marriages are under strain today in terms of economics. There are social cross-currents. We see failed marriages. But it is not under attack by our gay and lesbian citizens.

The National Flood Insurance Program is a voluntary program. If a community really feels that the building insurance requirements are too burdensome, they don't have to participate.

We can no longer afford the war in Iraq. Our financial costs have already passed a third of a trillion dollars; the lifetime costs for this war, in both human and economic terms, will be borne by Americans for generations to come.

After September 11, when the United States took action to overthrow the Taliban, our interests and Iran's aligned, and we were able to coordinate quietly but effectively.

Mr. Speaker, in the years since we enacted our attack against Iraq, the threat from Iran has only grown more difficult, and our capacity to meet that threat actually has diminished. It is one of the reasons many of us opposed that action against Iraq.

Whether it's in in livability, transportation, or the environment, Portland is always leading the country. We have more to do before we achieve our goals, but we should all be encouraged by our progress and this recognition.

Let's have a moment of silence for all those Americans who are stuck in traffic on their way to the gym to ride the stationary bicycle.

less about reform of the ESA, or to protect species, and more about making it easier for the exploitation of the environment.

If all of a sudden once it leaves here, people have the opportunity to change it contrary to the intent of the federal sponsors, contrary to the desires of local government, I think is a very troubling precedent,

What would have happened if, last September, Hurricane Ivan had veered 40 miles to the west, devastating the city of New Orleans?

Part of what needs to be going on,

I think this is an affirmation of the value of Public Broadcasting. I think it's going to lead this week to hundreds of people changing their wills.

To the best of my knowledge, ... there is not city in America -- large or small -- where people who are at minimum wage can afford basic housing.

We were taking an agency that was maybe 1 percent dealing with homeland security and 99 percent disaster, and folding it into something where it could lose focus and resources, ... And that is what's happened.

The same way we were talking about the arts being part of the infrastructure,

put the investment into transit and bike paths, into walking and buses, and allowing people to live downtown as well as just work and shop there.

Any community needs to plan to be able to realize their vision, ... Things that some people think are amenities ... are, in fact, part of the basic infrastructure.

Areas which are magnets to our creative class, ... are in communities that would have been gone if the old way of thinking had taken place.

a little scared by how fast they're doing all this stuff because I don't think there's anybody in charge.

This bill is not an energy policy, ... It is a list of tax breaks and special interest favors that does not translate into a cohesive approach, which global realities demand for this country.

they are going to go where they can create and live.

This is legislation not drafted in the long-term interests of the people it claims to help, seniors and taxpayers. It was drafted, first and foremost, for the drug companies.

The city has always been at risk because of its low-lying location,