Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have been fighting over the past several years to stop the thousands of trash shipments entering into Michigan from Canada. This year brought some welcome good news: Canada has stopped shipping its city trash to Michigan, eliminating about 1.5 million tons of trash a year that had been dumped into Michigan landfills, and taking more than 40,000 trucks a year off Michigan roads. The end of these shipments fulfills a 2005 agreement that Senator Stabenow and I reached with Ontario officials to end all shipments of municipally managed trash to Michigan by the end of 2010. However, private trash shipments from Canada are still being brought into Michigan. Tons of waste from private companies, including from construction, industry, and commercial sources, are being imported into Michigan for disposal in our landfills. Most of these shipments enter at three border crossings in Michigan: Port Huron, Sault Ste Marie, and Detroit. The loads of municipal solid waste are more than just a nuisance. These trash trucks from Canada pose a threat to our environment, health, and security. This legislation Senator Stabenow and I are introducing today would require the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress on the methodologies used by the Bureau to screen for the presence of chemical, nuclear, biological, and radiological weapons in municipal solid waste.…”