Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This amendment would eliminate the funding for the EPA Air, Climate, and Energy research program. I think we all know that the Clean Air Act has resulted in one of the most effective public health programs in American history by addressing air quality in the United States. What this amendment would do would be to set back any advances in new technology and new scientific tools that would help protect the American public from harmful exposure to air pollutants which, as we know, can damage our health, causing lung and heart disease, impact our immune, nervous, and reproductive systems, and shorten our lives. Millions of people in America live in counties that do not meet air quality standards for one or more pollutants, and new threats from climate change expand the air quality challenges confronting our society. The energy choices we make clearly influence air quality and climate change. Eliminating EPA funding to research and understand the impacts on air quality from alternative energy sources is, at a minimum, shortsighted. The bill already reduces the EPA by $164 million from the FY 2016 enacted level. I think we have already done enough damage in that particular reduction. For the health and welfare of our citizens, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.”