John Shimkus

The public should not be deceived that if we move to a regime that is costly, ineffective by the manufacturers, they could move overseas with less stringent.

So it is not unprecedented that we have this language.

We at least start addressing it. And I think that is a step in the right direction showing some movement.

Historically, if you would look at the founding of this country, that the Interstate Commerce Clause is really the foundational principle that has unified these States

This bill will help create manufacturing jobs in not only those plants that manufacture chemicals, but also in plants that use them to make cars, computer chips, and thousands of other goods.

We think that chemical manufacturers should be in a position to cooperate with EPA on its close scrutiny of their products.

We also agree that EPA should have the authority to impose requirements and restrictions on chemicals that pose risks.

We need to be sure that EPA has the information it needs to decide on the safety of a chemical.

Our job is to craft a bill that reflects the best of all of us.

I unveiled the discussion draft because I think we need a collaborative process with diverse input.

Our staffs have sat down on a bipartisan basis for many hours to discuss the language before us in the Chemicals in Commerce Act.

We have participated in five hearings at which we have dug into TSCA, learning the issues section by section.

I would like to call the hearing to order and welcome our guests.

It is challenging because it is going broke and my colleagues on the other side will not accept that premise.

If you are fair to the beneficiaries then you are being fair to the community pharmacists

More than 250 organizations united for a common goal, protecting seniors and individuals with disabilities from harmful changes to Medicare Part D.

I think if we can agree on what is out there, allow EPA to do a tiered, targeted, risk-based approach, we can all get to the end goal here.

Let's not kid ourselves, though; information collection and analysis on thousands of chemicals will become time-consuming and expensive.

We need to push beyond re-litigating those cases and focus on what authorities EPA has now or could reasonably use in the future to produce tailored, necessary and high-quality test data and other information to carry out TSCA.

A lot of you all here will help us muddle through that process, and point out the good, and the bad, the ugly, and maybe, working with my colleagues, we could find areas of compromise.

I think it would be safe to say that no one envisioned this world in which we live in technologically, no one envisioned in '96.

If we don't get a handle on our mandatory spending programs, they will end up consuming the small blue portion, which is our discretionary budget.

The importance of this debate for rural America is, there is nowhere else to go.

I have been watching the live feed online of the protest in Kiev, and I would like to encourage Ukrainians to stand firm and continue to voice their opinions. I also call upon the Ukrainian Government to respect the Ukrainians' right to…

I understand you spoke last week to a conference in Japan where you indicated, and I quote, 'We have no ultimate plan for spent fuel disposition.'