On the recordMarch 30, 2017
Have you ever had that deja vu all over again? Haven't we been doing this one since, what, 2013, 2014? I accept I have been off the committee now for 4 years; yet we are talking past each other. I hear the gentlewoman and some of the others say things. It is a 12-page bill. It hasn't changed that much in the last couple Congresses. How many of us would like to go back to the 2013 inspector general report that basically suggested going this direction because of the conflicts in these advisory committees? {time} 0945 If you really, once again--and this is sort of similar to yesterday's discussion--if you really care about the environment, then you really care about the data and the information and sort of the ethics and honesty of those who are both reviewing the data and giving you advice. So what happens when the inspector general of the EPA hands you a report and says: These committees, these advisory councils are rife with conflicts? People who are on these advisory boards are making money. Now, accept much of what we do here in Washington, D.C., if not almost all of it, is about the cash, and it is one of the ugly secrets that is not a secret, but we all pretend. It is always about the money. Let's try something novel. Let's actually--this was an inspector general's report under the Obama administration. Why wouldn't we step up and respect it? It was very simple. Hey, we need some more diversity on these advisory boards.…
