Angie Craig: “I rise to speak against the Lautenberg amendment and also to speak generally about S. Con. Res. 95, which is, of course…”

“I rise to speak against the Lautenberg amendment and also to speak generally about S. Con. Res. 95, which is, of course, the underlying budget resolution. I also come from a State that has a very large Superfund site, so one would think I would be in support of the Lautenberg amendment to fund that site, but I am not, and here is the reason why, and why I think it is important we all understand a tax is a tax is a tax, and what the Senator proposes on Superfund is really a tax on a lot of businesses that are having difficulty at this moment. In fiscal year 2005, the request for Superfund is $1.38 billion, and that is an increase of about $124 million over fiscal year 2004. The fiscal year 2005 budget includes a $150 million increase in Superfund cleanups, and that $150 million not only funds the cleanup work already underway in Idaho and the program we have planned out there, but it also includes 15 new construction projects, or cleanup projects, involved under Superfund law. Democrats will argue to reinstate the Superfund tax so that, in their words, the polluter pays for the cost of the cleanup. Well, the fact is the polluter already pays under current law. Where there is an identifiable and viable polluter, consistent with the law, they are held liable.”