Nick Rahall Quotes

The Congress is the place where ordinary mortals go about the business of compromise—of compromise that gets us through the day.

Edgar Wayburn has worked to preserve the most breath-taking examples of the American landscape. In fact, over the course of more than a half-century, both as President of the Sierra Club and as a private citizen, he has saved more of our wilderness than any person alive.

There is no more honorable thing any of us can do with our lives than to work to put part of the world off-limits to the activities of human beings.

There's been progress toward seeing that nature and culture are not opposing terms, and that wilderness is not the only kind of landscape for environmentalists to concern themselves with.

All legislation of any consequence is a compromise. You have to recognize that.

I come more and more to the conclusion that wilderness, in America or anywhere else, is the only thing left that is worth saving.

I realize the answer is not to create wilderness and walk away.

Congress is unable to do the work of the American people because too many politicians believe that compromise means capitulation.

It is a wonderful honor to receive the Audubon Medal from the National Audubon Society, which for more than a century has fought tirelessly to protect and preserve our natural resources and environment for future generations.

No one should be able to enter a wilderness by mechanical means.

I rise today to discuss the National Intelligence Reform bill. I commend my colleagues in both Houses for their hard work in coming to an agreement. As with any conference, each voice is heard, but none can dominate and compromise must be achieved.

The good news is that real-world hands-on conservation is alive and well and catching on across the America I travel.

We've been sitting at the compromise table for a long time. We're just waiting for that cold chair to be warmed up by the Republican leadership. They still have time to do the right thing and be responsible. They just seem to be moving further and further away from it.

Last year, I co-sponsored the Highlands Conservation Act and in a bipartisan effort we passed the bill through Congress.

There is something basic about protecting land by taking it off the market. People should be able to enjoy where they live while at the same time protect the plants and animals around them.

The only bipartisanship you ever see is when they finally sign a bill and everybody says, 'Gee, isn't that wonderful?'

We have a moral responsibility to save wild places like the arctic refuge for future generations, and that is why our country has remained committed to its protection for nearly 50 years.

Every time I have some moment on a seashore, or in the mountains, or sometimes in a quiet forest, I think this is why the environment has to be preserved.

Simply put, I believe we should not seek the lowest common denominator when it comes to wilderness and saddle a wilderness designation with exceptions, exclusions, and exemptions.

The forests shall not be burned needlessly.

Nearly all legislation is the result of compromise.

The political equivalent of an immaculate conception: a [legislative] compromise that materializes without any politician having to take the blame.

In wildness is the preservation of the world.

What will happen is the bills will start out the way we like them; in order to move them - we'll probably have to make compromises. That's the way the legislative process works when it's functioning.

The government was built on compromising. And it's frustrating as hell.