Todd Young: “I thank the ranking member, my good friend, for yielding to me. You know, the legislation we have been talking about has…”

“I thank the ranking member, my good friend, for yielding to me. You know, the legislation we have been talking about has a lot of good merits, but I was on the floor last week talking about the mice that get into a good bill and destroy it by leaving residue behind. It appears to me now that there is a rat in this bill that is leaving a lot more behind. I am talking about an amendment that is offered on the Pebble Mine that hijacks due process and the scientific process that the sponsors of this amendment claim to hold so near and dear to their hearts. The Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, are bedrock environmental statutes and they should not be preempted or short-circuited when it is convenient for groups on either side of the issue. The sponsors of this amendment claim the administration is unraveling NEPA, but it is this amendment that would stymie the process, and it is disingenuous to want it both ways. If groups on the other side want to indict the process, then we can have a debate about the environmental review process in this country, but to change the rules in the middle of the game is not fair nor right, especially if it comes from one State to another State. The Federal permitting process is nearing completion, and I will respect the end result. I don't know what the result will be.…”