Political Quotes

“Thank you, Madam Chair. Two weeks ago, scientists at a massive facility in Europe announced that they may have discovered a particle that travels faster than the speed of light--a discovery that would turn Einstein's theory of special relativity upside down, a discovery that, if true, would revolutionize the way we see the world. The news spurred a massive amount of interest. Headlines read: ``Back to the Future,'' and media stories even speculated on how this discovery could be exploited to enable real-life time travel. However, it seems Republicans have already figured out how to get around Einstein's theory, because today the House will vote on a piece of legislation that will blast us right back in time to the start of the Industrial Revolution. This bill says no matter what EPA learns about the sludge that comes out of coal-fired plants, no matter how high the concentrations of poisonous arsenic, mercury, or chromium, and no matter what EPA learns about how these materials find their way into our drinking water, EPA is forbidden to classify or regulate it as hazardous waste. EPA is forbidden to require that this toxic material be disposed of carefully. This bill turns a blind eye to evidence of known hazards and takes us back to the Dark Ages, to a time before science was valued and before advanced knowledge transformed society. It takes us back to an era when mercury and arsenic, major components of coal ash, were used to cure toothaches and clear up your complexion.…”