Oregon militants: Congressman Walden takes BLM to woodshed
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management was the target of withering criticism Tuesday by Oregon Rep. Greg Walden in a dramatic speech.
"How do you have faith in a government that doesn't ever listen to you? "
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Walden, speaking from the House floor for nearly a half hour, gave voice to rural frustrations with government officials, particularly the federal land bureau that manages huge swaths of eastern Oregon.
"... Now, there aren't many times, Mr. Speaker, in this job when you can say I know what the intent of the law was, but in this case I could because I wrote the law, I knew the intent.
Do you understand how frustrated I am at this? Can you imagine how the people on the ground feel? Can you imagine? If you are not there, you can't. If you are not there, you can't. You ridicule them. This is not a laughing matter from any consequence. Nobody is going to win out of this thing.
This is a government that has gone too far for too long. Now, I am not condoning this takeover in any way. I want to make that clear. I don't think it is appropriate. There is a right to protest. I think they have gone too far. But I understand and hear their anger."
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Here is the text of his speech, provided by his office: I'd rather that the readers take a break and click on the video of his speech.
Republican Congressman, Greg Walden later told Lou Dobbs that he intended to keep his remarks to 5 minutes, but when he started talking, an endless flood of anger, frustration, and outrage welled up and he went on for nearly half an hour.
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