Political Quotes

“with Earth Day coming up, it is time to reflect on the environmental record of the 104th Congress. Do you recall, during the heyday of the Gingrich revolution, when in one appropriation bill the Gingrich Republicans put in a 28-page amendment which eliminated 14 environmental protection laws they considered unnecessary? Let me give some examples. The law which says the Federal Government will monitor the presence of arsenic in drinking water, the Republicans say that is unnecessary. Another law which said that one industry, a special interest group, the cement kiln industry, would have a waiver of air pollution standards, the Republicans said, that is a good idea. Well, that amendment passed with the Gingrich Republicans' support, and after 3 separate efforts, 35 moderate Republicans finally took all the heat they could at home and decided to join the Democrats and repeal it. Since then, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Gingrich] has tried to get an awful lot greener. Every time he has come to the floor, he has talked about saving the environment, but the American people know better. You have to put money in the Environmental Protection Agency to protect the purity of the water we drink and the safety of the air that we breathe.”