Political Quotes

“I want to start off by thanking my dear friend, Senator Inhofe. We have had a wonderful relationship when it comes to the infrastructure issues. We have not worked terribly well together on environmental issues, but because of both of our staffs and the Members of our committee on both sides of the aisle, we were able to tough it out and come up with a bill that I absolutely believe is better than current law. I will be entering into the Record additional views by four leading Democratic negotiators--myself, Senator Udall, Senator Merkley, and Senator Markey. I rise in support of H.R. 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. I spoke at length about this before, so I won't go on for a long time. But I do want to reiterate that the journey to this moment has been the most complicated journey I have ever had to take on any piece of legislation, and I have been around here for a long time. It was a critical journey. When naming a bill after Senator Lautenberg, who fought for the environment all his life, the bill must be worthy of his name, and, finally, this bill is. It didn't start out that way. I used every prerogative I had, every tool in my arsenal to bring it down until it got better, and it is better. It is better than current law. Asbestos, for example, is one of the most harmful chemicals known to humankind, and it takes 15,000 lives a year. It is linked to a deadly form of lung cancer called mesothelioma.…”