Ed Markey: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in opposition to the Republican TRAIN Act, the Total Regulatory Amnesty for…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in opposition to the Republican TRAIN Act, the Total Regulatory Amnesty for Industry Negligence Act of 2011. The very silly premise of this bill is that it's simply impossible to keep our air clean and still keep our economic engine chugging along. This Republican-led House has initiated a full-throttle ``repeal-a- thon.'' It's a three-part strategy: one, deny the science; two, delay the regulations; three, deter efforts to protect the health and security of millions of Americans. We keep hearing from Republicans about how EPA's clean air standards to reduce mercury, lead, dioxins, and other pollutants need to be economically analyzed and reanalyzed. They insist that, even if a standard for one toxic chemical was met by an entire industrial sector, the removal of just one more poisonous chemical would cause a domino effect of problems for industry. And the solution to these supposed problems? It is a time-tested Republican tradition. First, pass legislation that repeals regulations that have already been set. Two, require endless study of the cumulative effects of all regulations of all industries. Finally, just for good measure, pass an amendment that guts the very underpinnings of the Clean Air Act. Make no mistake, that is what we are doing here today. Our planet is warming and extreme weather is increasing. We're having record 100-year floods every few years. Hurricanes have caused floods, massive power outages, and deaths.…”