Barbara Boxer: “I listened to every word as my friend spoke, and I respect the words from my colleague from West Virginia very much, but…”

“I listened to every word as my friend spoke, and I respect the words from my colleague from West Virginia very much, but I just want to be clear. I could not disagree with them more. Why would the majority leader and my friends push for the overturning of a Clean Power Plan rule that will, in fact, save lives-- that is a fact because when the air gets cleaner, you save lives--and will also protect our planet from the ravages of climate change? I don't know why they would take that stand. I really don't. When we are sworn in here, above all we are supposed to protect the health and safety of the people of our Nation, not protect one utility over the other. That is the private sector. We are here to protect lives and to protect the planet. I am going to go into depth as to why I feel this is very wrongheaded. I particularly have great respect for our majority leader. Senator McConnell has the power to bring anything before the body that he chooses. That is his right, and he has done that. But I must question this--given what happened in Paris and the need to keep America safe: Why are we going after the Clean Air Act today? It doesn't make sense. We should be moving to the omnibus budget agreement. We should be looking at every part of that budget to make America safe. For example, in the EPA budget, we could look at ways to improve chemical safety and how to protect our reservoirs.…”