Earl Blumenauer Quotes (25 Quotes)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I am absolutely convinced, ... that in the course of the next ten years we have an amazing chance to reverse the direction of this country.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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,