Political Quotes

“this is probably the first time in my 12 years as a Congressman in the House of Representatives that I have risen to support a rule that is not an ``open'' rule. But, I believe that the rule before us is a fair and essentially open rule. All Members were given the opportunity to submit amendments to H.R. 3425 to the Rules Committee, and the Rules Committee made in order all those amendments that were found by the Parliamentarian to be germane to the legislation or not subject to a point of order. I realize, Mr. Speaker, that many of my colleagues have legitimate concerns over current environmental policy--and I agree with my colleagues that there are serious problems with the way environmental regulations are currently carried out in this country--but this bill is clearly not the place to address such concerns. This bill deals solely with the structural elevation and management reforms of the EPA, and avoids environmental policy issues that should be addressed during consideration of new environmental statutes and reauthorizations of existing laws. Because of this, amendments that address policy issues, such as cost-benefit analysis and the taking of private property, have rightly been ruled out of order by the Rules Committee because they are clearly nongermane to this bill. Mr. Speaker, elevation of the EPA to Cabinet level is long overdue.”