Phil Gingrey: “my amendment strikes the Commission on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation from this appropriation bill. I offer…”

“my amendment strikes the Commission on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation from this appropriation bill. I offer this amendment not because I think an interagency climate change science program necessarily is a bad idea, but because it is clearly authorizing on an appropriation bill, and I object to this procedure. House rule XXI (2) prohibits changing existing law in an appropriations bill. Contrary to this rule, the language included in the EPA section of H.R. 2643 changes existing law by establishing this new Commission on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation which is tasked with ``reviewing science challenges related to adaptation and mitigation strategies necessitated by climate change.'' An interagency climate change science program that reviews these questions already exists under the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The Office of the Parliamentarian confirms that this provision does violate rule XXI. Also, Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall of the Science and Technology Committee sent a letter to the Rules Committee outlining these concerns requesting that the Rules Committee not waive points of order against this provision.”