On the recordJune 25, 2015
I thank the ranking member for yielding me the time. You know, my Republican colleagues have made no secret about the fact that they want to strangle the EPA and undermine its vital environmental work, but they make little mention of how this bill also threatens our national security. I represent Las Vegas, which is the home of a number of critical radiation response programs, including one of the only two EPA mobile field labs that can quickly be deployed should a radiological incident occur anywhere in the West. They can process air, soil, and water samples. Because of ongoing budget cuts led by the Republicans, however, EPA will soon be moving this unit to Montgomery, Alabama, and decommissioning its other mobile lab. That will leave the whole country with only one EPA radiation response lab, which will be located over 2,000 miles from Los Angeles, 2,600 miles from Seattle, and 1,800 miles from Las Vegas and the Nevada test site. Now, Republicans may be willing to gamble our health and safety to satisfy their corporate friends, but I am not, and that is why I am asking my colleagues to vote against this legislation and fund our agencies at levels necessary to protect our national security.
