William Tauzin: “And Louisiana wants to regulate it a different way than when the National Government regulates it, let us say for…”

“And Louisiana wants to regulate it a different way than when the National Government regulates it, let us say for example oilfield waste which is a pretty common problem in the Southwest, in Louisiana, in Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, particularly a problem in our area, not a big problem nationally, a big problem regionally. We have got laws now in Louisiana dealing with oilfield waste, we have a standard right now, a regime for regulating that that is a model for other States. We developed it at home and we pay for it at home and we make the polluters at home pay for it. We set that standard up in our own State. But if on the other hand we had a problem that affected the air of the United States, and that required a mandate here in Washington for us to require that all polluters, all persons affecting the air of the United States be part of a program, what this bill says is that in the future we should have the courage of our convictions and say that this is something good for all Americans, it affects the air that we all breathe, we are going to set down a mandate to clean it up and we will raise the money and pay for it in Washington. That is what this unfunded mandates bill is all about. The day you make an exception because you happen to like one set of mandates instead of another is the day you begin to unravel the principle of unfunded mandates which ought to be something we all agree upon here in Washington.”