I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Connie Loudermilk and the Golden, Illinois Historical Society for their efforts to preserve Prairie Mills in Golden.

Today, it serves perhaps an even more important role as a reminder of the way things used to be.

The efforts they are making will last for generations to come.

Earth Day has been a catalyst for the enactment of some of our nation's most important laws.

Earth Day matters. It raises the awareness of Americans and is a catalyst for positive change.

I am proud of my strong environmental voting record.

I challenge my colleagues to work towards its passage.

Earth Day must also serve as a reminder that even today, we still have a need for improvement.

We must also strive as global citizens toward safer drinking water and cleaner air at home and abroad.

It is clear today, maybe more so than in 1970, that there is a global connection through the environment.

I strongly support H.R. 525, the Defense of the Environments Act.

Environmental Justice matters.

Environmental Justice matters. We must begin to eliminate the mentality that our nation's poorest communities can be used as dumping grounds for our industrial achievements.

It is not a question of whether we can afford to protect the environment, rather it is a question of whether we can afford not to.

As a member of this body, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Earth Day.

We now must begin to realize the responsibility we have in providing under developed nation with the environmental technology that will allow them to grow as they move towards a more industrialized society.

We must begin to eliminate the mentality that our nation's poorest communities can be used as dumping grounds for our industrial achievements.

In closing, I leave you with this thought, it is not a question of whether we can afford to protect the environment, rather it is a question of whether we can afford not to.