Political Quotes

“Well, I think the Senator is right. You know, it is fair to look at his record. It is also fair to look at his words. In 2016-- so this is not 10 years ago; this is less than a year ago--he said: Legislation should not be ``we like clean air, so go make clean air.'' It is something that bothers me, that Congress then gives this general grant of authority to EPA. Congress has given a general grant of authority to the EPA. That is what the law says. So, my concern, when it comes to Mr. Pruitt, is that he understands, as a member of the bar, as an attorney general, what the law says. He has been operating in a political context, I think it is fair to say, as the head of the Republican Attorneys General Association. Working with energy companies, he has been very aggressive in cultivating friends across the country who are very enthusiastic about his nomination and potential confirmation. But he totally misunderstands the mission of the EPA. It is granted by the Congress, a general authority to enforce clean air. That is what the EPA is, really; it is clean air, and it is clean water. That is what the EPA is about. The thing I think is especially troubling for me when it comes to the politics of this, is that there was a bipartisan consensus for many, many, many years around the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. I believe the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act came under President George H.W. Bush.…”