Jerry Moran: “Emboldened by their electoral victories last fall, my Republican colleagues have embarked on a campaign to weaken or…”

“Emboldened by their electoral victories last fall, my Republican colleagues have embarked on a campaign to weaken or repeal many of the landmark laws that have protected the public's health and the environment. The first opening shots at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were fired through amendments to legislation (H.R. 1) to complete the fiscal 2011 budget. More than 22 anti-environmental and anti-conservation riders, that suspend agencies from taking action to implement provisions in Federal law, were added to bill on the House floor during the week of February 13th. Fortunately, the Senate rejected the House bill, bringing us down a path to where we are today in a high stakes showdown whose outcome looks even more likely to result in a government-wide shutdown. But, instead of sitting down to try to work out a budget, we are here on the House floor debating a bill to overturn a scientific finding. EPA determined through its December 2009 endangerment finding that greenhouse gases endanger the public's health. Today's House floor action is reminiscent of the Catholic Church's response to Galileo Galilei's publication of his famous work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which stated that the sun was the center of the universe. It was not until October 31, 1992 when Pope John Paul II expressed his regret for how the Galileo affair was handled by the Catholic Church.…”