Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, my amendment permits the EPA to continue to enforce and finalize the regulations preempted by the bill at hand if the emissions limited by these regulations are found to cause cancer. In other words, this amendment says the administrator shall not delay actions to reduce the emissions from any cement kiln if such emissions are increasing the occurrence of cancer. We stand here today having an argument that is predicated on the notion that when it comes to matters of job creation and environmental stewardship and protection of public health, you can only have one or the other. You must pick between creating and retaining jobs, they'll tell you, or protecting and conserving our land, air, water, and keeping our public healthy. This is a false notion, born of scare tactics and the fact that those who purport these ideas aren't basing their beliefs on science. There are both economic and societal factors involved. It's not an either/or. It's dollar signs, yes; but it's also lives, days in hospitals, cancer treatments, and trips to the emergency room for small children and the elderly. Come to Chicago, the asthma morbidity and mortality capital of the United States. Cement kilns are the third largest source of mercury emissions in the U.S. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that impacts and impairs the ability of infants and children to think and learn. The toxic air pollutants found in cement kiln emissions can cause cancer, and they do.…”