Political Quotes

“If this amendment were limited to the 18 per- and polyfluorinated compounds that EPA knows about and has rendered a judgment on, we would be having a different debate. Formulations like PFOA and PFOS, for example, have been studied and have already been taken out of commercial use. But this amendment, like others we will be debating, emotionally and politically requires severe action on an entire class of chemicals, maybe as many as 5,000 substances. It does so without due diligence and scientific inquiry. Nobody denies that there are real concerns and frustration in communities affected by PFAS contamination. My colleague has raised those concerns, and we certainly want to help those communities, especially those that host our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. The use of firefighting foam in those areas has caused PFAS to enter into ditches and canals and seep into groundwater formations. But while we can and should take action to limit or even prohibit uncontrolled releases of PFAS-containing firefighting foam, we can't lose sight of why this foam is used in the first place. If you or your loved one are on a nuclear submarine that is carrying nuclear weapons under the Arctic icecap or involved in a fiery aircraft accident on the runway, you want the best firefighting foam available, not the second best. The concern of these communities needs to be addressed, but this is not what is happening in this process.…”