Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment to H.R. 8. This amendment is another example of pro-corporate, anti- environmental legislation designed by large corporations to restrict access to the courts for the average citizen. The Gosar amendment ignores separation of powers by telling the Federal courts how to do their job, restricting the type of relief a court can grant, and penalizing successful challenges brought under the Equal Access to Justice Act. This, in turn, limits access to legal relief for those challenging government decisions. Let's say you are a farmer or a rancher or a landowner and you live adjacent to Federal land that is being leased out to an energy company for fracking and you are worried about what is going to happen to your drinking water, you are worried about the price of your house, and you are worried about the health of your children. Well, this amendment will greatly interfere with your ability to challenge the decision of the Federal agency granting the permit. It will tie the hands of the courts in terms of deciding the case in a fair and just way. For nearly 70 years, the Administrative Procedure Act, or APA, has served as the foundation for administrative agency action and ensures that agency action taking place in the rulemaking process is fair, efficient, and flexible enough to accommodate the myriad of agency actions it governs along with the challenges of daily life.…”