Political Quotes

“Madam President, today I rise to speak in opposition to the nomination of Paul Ray to be the next Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, more commonly known as OIRA. Although not many people outside of Washington have heard of OIRA, this office wields an important amount of influence over regulations that impact families, businesses, and communities in countless ways. If confirmed, Mr. Ray would be responsible for reviewing health, labor, environmental, and many other protections, from safeguarding our source of drinking water to ensuring the cars we drive are safe. In Michigan, communities like Flint, Oscoda, and Parchment cannot drink water from their own faucets without fear of ingesting toxic chemicals like lead or PFAS. When meeting with Mr. Ray, I stressed the need to prioritize protections that provide safe and clean drinking water and preserve our Great Lakes and other natural resources. I appreciate that Mr. Ray listened to my concerns. He is clearly very smart and passionate about administrative law and the rulemaking process. However, Mr. Ray is relatively new to Federal service and has relied primarily on his recent tenure at the agency to demonstrate his qualifications. Given his prior role, the best way for us to understand what Mr. Ray will do if confirmed is to take a closer look at what he has already done. In order to thoroughly examine his qualifications, we asked Mr.…”