Roy Blunt: “This legislation authorizes $10 billion in spending to the EPA. And, frankly, the EPA spends a lot of money that could…”

“This legislation authorizes $10 billion in spending to the EPA. And, frankly, the EPA spends a lot of money that could be spent in different ways. In the EPA budget last year $47,459,367 was spent in projects in foreign countries. I would suggest, in supporting the gentleman's amendment, that probably you could find $10 million there and, if you couldn't find it there, you could find it somewhere else. Currently, the EPA has paid for things that establish a coal bed methane clearinghouse in the People's Republic of China or developing or producing a television documentary in China, in Chinese, on mercury pollution or improving environmental monitoring quality and capacity in the Ukraine. They may all be good things, but none of them as important to American taxpayers as the proposal today. This proposal would allow this bill to move forward, but require the EPA to find the $10 million for this new program by evaluating the value to the American people and the American taxpayer of their old program. I think the money that is there to do this can be found elsewhere.”