Brian Higgins: “I thank the ranking member for yielding. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1. My community of Buffalo and Niagara Falls…”

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1. My community of Buffalo and Niagara Falls are all too familiar with the devastating consequences of decisions that put polluters over people. Toxic waste dumped by Hooker Chemical in the 1940s contaminated the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls. President Jimmy Carter declared a Federal health emergency, and Congress passed the Superfund Act with Love Canal becoming the first cleanup site. In 1968, the Buffalo River caught fire due to industrial contamination and was considered biologically dead. Atrocities like this led to the approval of the Clean Water Act in 1972 and have required hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. After residents sounded the alarm for years, in 2013, Tonawanda Coke was found guilty of deliberately releasing cancer-causing benzene into surrounding neighborhoods, a violation of the Clean Air Act. The Superfund Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act were each put in place after historically unchecked pollution impacted the health of our waterways, communities, and families. H.R. 1 removes safety protections, lessens accountability for violators, and diminishes public input. If this bill were in place 10 years ago, western New York neighbors would have had no recourse to address the carcinogens and toxic substances released into the air by Tonawanda Coke. We can't let polluting history repeat itself.…”