Political Quotes

“I would like to make a few comments on the committee process for H.R. 4273. As introduced, I had substantial concerns about H.R. 4273. The introduced bill gave the Department of Energy unprecedented and unchecked new authority to waive any federal, state or local environmental law if DOE determines there is an emergency with respect to electric power, and the only references to environmental safeguards in the bill were hortatory. This approach was unacceptable. I also believed that the bill was unnecessary, as federal agencies already have the tools necessary to resolve any conflicts between environmental requirements and emergency orders. However, the bill's sponsors, the committee Chairman, and the affected industry were willing to engage in serious, substantive negotiations to improve the bill, which produced significant improvements. The version of the bill reported from Committee is narrower in scope and effect, and provides some environmental safeguards. I would like to extend my thanks to all of the participants in the negotiations for a good-faith and productive process. In particular, I would like to thank Mr. Doyle and Mr. Green for their leadership and hard work on making improvements and producing a bill that can be supported on a broad bipartisan basis. I also want to thank Chairman Upton and Subcommittee Chairman Whitfield and Representative Olson for working with us.…”