On the recordJune 24, 2015
I want to say that I have the utmost respect for my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Pallone, who is the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. He is always thoroughly prepared and does a great job, but I respectfully must disagree with him on this amendment. Just reading the amendment, there doesn't seem to be that much wrong with it, and really there is not that much wrong with it; but I would point out that this amendment suggests that the Federal Government is not taking action about climate change. The fact is, we have 18 Federal agencies administering 61 separate programs on climate change, and since 2008, we have spent over $77 billion addressing it. That is not even including the regulations coming out of EPA. Last year alone, the Federal Government spent $23 billion on climate change. I would just point out that this bill is about responding to States who are asking us for help. They need more time to address this very complex regulation that will be coming out of EPA very soon. We can't have a debate about it without talking about climate change. But as I said earlier, everyone recognizes the climate has been changing since the beginning of time. I read an article the other day, in the 13th century, they had grape vineyards in northern England. That is not true today. Where we differ with the President is that the President has made it very clear that he thinks climate change is the number one issue facing mankind.…
