Barbara Boxer: “I have been amazed at the first 100 days of the Bush administration in relation to the environment issue. When I say the…”

“I have been amazed at the first 100 days of the Bush administration in relation to the environment issue. When I say the environment, I don't just throw that word out. I am talking about air, I am talking about water, I am talking about drinking water, I am talking about parks, and I am talking about cleaning up Superfund sites and brownfield sites. The fact is, we have a situation on our hands that is going to be very dangerous for our people. Why do I say that? I say that for a couple of reasons. First of all, we see rollbacks on very important issues. We have all heard about the President backing off the pledge he made in the campaign to deal with CO2 emissions which cause major problems in air quality. We know he has backed off that. We saw him evaluate a number of rules that were put in place under the Clinton administration. The one that I cannot get over--there are a number; I don't have time to get into them--is the one dealing with arsenic. We know a few things about arsenic. It is unsafe at any level. We know for a fact that at the current level of arsenic that is allowed in our drinking water, if you drink out of that water supply, 1 out of 100 people will get cancer--not may get cancer, not might get cancer, but will get cancer.”