Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to the amendment by my friend, the gentleman from Illinois. As I sit here and listen to the other side, they seem to be making the argument that if you pass regulations, then you are going to create jobs. It reminds me of what you hear in China and Russia, with more government intervention, more government regulations. Our friends on the other side of the aisle say that's creating new jobs. Yet on this regulation, we have had hearing after hearing after hearing in which people in the business come to Congress and say we don't know that we can meet these standards in the timeframe necessary. We heard today, one cement kiln in Oregon has already spent $20 million and still cannot meet the requirements of this regulation, and they have said they are going to have to close down. We have heard testimony that of 100 cement plants in America, 18 percent of them are going to have to shut down. So how do you create jobs by issuing regulations that make people close plants and lose jobs? Now, I understand that we have a balance that we are trying to reach here, and that's the purpose of this legislation. We want to protect health. And, by the way, EPA in 1999 issued a cement regulation. And between 1999 and 2005, mercury emissions decreased by 58 percent during that time period. In 2006 they came out with a new regulation, and certain environmental groups didn't like it; so they filed a lawsuit.…”