Political Quotes

“there was a bipartisan agreement on giving EPA the authority it needs to ensure the safety of the drinking water. It would have guaranteed the public the right to know if their drinking water was safe. It would have required EPA to issue regulations to prevent deadly microbial contamination of public drinking water supplies. It would have prohibited the use of lead pipes, solder, and flux in the installation and repair of any public water system, as well as repair of any facility connected to that public water system. Unfortunately, these are not the things my Republican colleagues care most about. Instead, at the very last minute, and despite the strong opposition of Democratic Members and the administration, they have turned the safe drinking water conference into the biggest pork barrel this House has seen in years. In clear violation of the House's instructions to the conferees, the Republican conferees have in fact earmarked $175 million for low-priority pork projects. The conference report forces the EPA to fund 25, 25 earmarked projects, most of which are in the districts of Republican freshmen and other Republicans in marginal districts. What does this tell the American people about the Republican majority in this House and the environment?”