On the recordMay 3, 2017
let me talk about the retirement CRA, the vote that is coming before us quite soon. So far this Congress, the Republican majority has passed 13 CRAs-- Congressional Review Act resolutions--all on party-line votes. Far from being a major accomplishment, these CRAs just overturn rules passed at the very end of the Obama administration. To make them a major accomplishment of the first 100 days misreads what they are and history, when compared to many other Presidents. Most of them, to boot, even worse, rather than benefiting the American people, just benefit large, wealthy, special interests--not just this one but just about all of them. They are not for working people. They are not for middle-class Americans. If there is some narrow special interest that doesn't like it, then this Republican-led Congress goes along. It is not right. Let me give a few examples. The Republicans passed a CRA that removed protections for our waters and streams from the harmful pollution that comes from the runoff of mining sites. Why? Large mining companies wanted it. The American people weren't crying out for it. This Republican Congress passed a CRA that would make it easier for the adjudicated mentally ill to purchase firearms--a priority of the gun lobby, certainly not of the American people. They even passed a CRA that allowed large oil, mining, and gas companies to make payments to foreign governments--essentially bribes--without even having to disclose them.…
