Ken Calvert: “I thank the gentlewoman, and I must rise in reluctant opposition. I wish I could have worked with the gentleman on this…”

“I thank the gentlewoman, and I must rise in reluctant opposition. I wish I could have worked with the gentleman on this amendment, but this amendment reaches a little too far and is inconsistent even with the Trump administration's position. This year the President requested $2 million for the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program which would provide financial assistance to low income, minority, and Tribal populations, which we deal with quite often. This amendment would prohibit EPA's ability to issue grants altogether, which means all of the Office of Environmental Justice funds would be allocated to the payroll and personnel and could result in the hiring of more EPA staff, and I am sure that is not your intention. And so there would be no savings according to the CBO. Zero. No savings at all in this amendment. I don't believe that is your intent. Because the amendment would have unintended consequences, I must oppose the amendment.”