Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer a commonsense amendment to the RAPID Act, a misguided bill that will disempower local leaders, including tribal leaders, and threaten the health and safety of our communities and their communities. As a member of the Natural Resources Committee, time and time again I have witnessed the Republican majority siding with big business and gutting bedrock environmental safeguards that for decades have protected our families and our natural heritage. My Republican friends claim that this bill is intended to protect the interest of our States and Native American tribes. Mr. Chair, we already have a law on the books for that purpose. It is called the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, and it works. At its heart, NEPA ensures that our government is accountable to the people. This critical law has protected the environment for more than 40 years without imposing arbitrary deadlines or limiting vital public input. It guarantees the public an opportunity to review and comment on actions proposed by the government, enabling important perspectives that would otherwise go unnoticed. In this way, NEPA can actually serve as a check on Big Government. Unfortunately, the RAPID Act promises the opposite, a deeply flawed process that would diminish the voice of State, local, and tribal communities.…”