For too long, communities of color, low-income communities, fence-line communities, and others on the front lines of climate change have borne the brunt of environmental injustice.

It is a new day for climate and environmental action in the U.S., and this committee, as I said, is ready to lead.

It is paramount that Congress take action to give EPA the full authority and to explore a full policy like a clean electricity standard.

The science is clear. We must achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 if we are to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.

We want to make sure that they share in those changes and that they have a good job and they are not left behind.

I think it is really important, you know, if you talk about section 13(b), and what I am hearing from every single witness here today is that Congress needs to act forthwith.

But the former FTC chairman, Joseph Simons, I think, insulated some of the worst that came out, some of these scams.

I am proud of the fact that we did a bipartisan initiative at--in the end-of-the-year package to include, you know, this provision that gives the FTC new authority to seek civil penalties for scams and deceptive practices related to COVID.

Now, one of the concerns that I have, though, is that the FTC's ability to make victims whole is under threat in the Supreme Court.

I wanted to applaud both the chairwoman and Congressman Bucshon for their bipartisan work in giving the Federal Trade Commission new authority to seek civil penalties for COVID-19 scams.

But for scammers and fraudsters, this is exactly the kind of fear and desperation that they seize and thrive on.

I don't want to dwell on the past, but I think it is important to understand the message the Trump administration left behind.