Henry Waxman: “This amendment says that the President, whoever that President is or will be, would certify that implementation of the…”

“This amendment says that the President, whoever that President is or will be, would certify that implementation of the act will not adversely affect public health in the country and will not have a disproportionate impact, a negative impact on sub-populations that are most at risk from hazardous air pollutants, including communities with a high proportion of minorities, low-income communities, pregnant women, and the elderly. I don't know how my Republican colleagues can oppose that. First of all, I didn't like that little slur that I heard about the President of the United States. I think the President would make an honest call. I trust any President of the United States to make an honest call if this amendment were adopted. But the whole idea of our environmental laws is that we could all live together. If an elderly person is more susceptible to asthma, and if children are more susceptible to harm from air pollution, we don't want to say that they have to live somewhere else. We should all be able to live together. But there are some sub-populations that are at greater risk; and we ought to recognize that, especially low-income populations. A lot of minority groups are more susceptible to asthma. And when you talk about minority and low-income people, they don't have houses where they can send their kids down to the playroom. They can have their kids play outside, and they are going to be breathing in a lot of this air pollution.…”