Chris Coons: “I want to initially begin by thanking my colleague from Oklahoma for graciously allowing me to proceed first ahead of…”

“I want to initially begin by thanking my colleague from Oklahoma for graciously allowing me to proceed first ahead of him. He is, as ever, a terrific colleague. I would like to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague from Minnesota. I, too, led a bipartisan delegation--two Republican House Members and two Senate Democrats--to Eastern European in August and observed many of the same issues and concerns that she just raised and have joined her, along with 10 Republican Senators and 8 other Democratic Senators, in the legislation she mentioned. I think this is an important issue on which all of us should focus. Mr. President, let me turn to the matter at hand, the nomination of Scott Pruitt to serve as the director of the EPA. I thank my colleagues, many of whom have come to the floor to speak about the nomination of Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA, and most essentially, my senior Senator and friend from my home State of Delaware, Tom Carper, ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, who has ably led this fight. I am glad to be able to join my colleagues to make clear why, in my view, someone who does not believe in a core Federal role in protecting the environment is not the right person to lead the Federal Agency charged with just that mission. It is possible that we in this Chamber have now forgotten why the Environmental Protection Agency was created in the first place.…”