Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the following information is in response to an article entered into the record by Senator Boxer of California earlier today. The Hearst News article in question was published in the San Francisco Chronicle and implies that the chemical industry drafted S. 697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. This implication is false. The bill authors, including myself, wrote this bill. Drafts of the bill were circulated to many interested stakeholders throughout the drafting process and returned with comments. This process took over 3 years, and drafts were circulated each step of the way. Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act was a very involved and transparent process. Environmental groups, trial lawyers, industry, State officials, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were consulted at many stages throughout the process. All of their input is reflected in the bill in various provisions, often the same ones. This is major comprehensive legislation that has received wide bipartisan support. The New York Times looked into the allegation that the chemical industry wrote the bill. Their lead reporter, Eric Lipton, wrote on March 17: ``Lots of players, including enviros, submitted drafts with proposed changes.'' Again, many drafts of this bill were shared by a variety of Senate offices with many stakeholders in a very engaged process over 3 years.…”